Memories of Another
by Lord Furnival
Summary: Long time no update. Next chapter is up. Big turning point here.
1. Prologue

Memories of Another

This is a Final Fantasy 7 crossover, with what, I don't know yet. It begins at the end of Advent Children's battle with Sephiroth. I've taken some liberty in editing those moments but the story requires it.

Enjoy!

It was cold, it was…dark. Cloud's vision was black. His eyes were open, but he could see nothing. Absolutely nothing was all he could see. Did he even have eyes? It didn't even feel like he had a body. He could hear nothing, he could feel nothing. He could only taste, but even the taste was faint. It tasted like…

"Ham…" Cloud thought, "I'm dead, and all I can do is taste ham…what a jip." He didn't even have most of his memories. He could only remember the last few seconds of his life and some shredded memories of his life interspersed through out his mind.

_I was frozen in time, but I feel as if my time is just beginning... _He saw a face. Well, he really just saw a sphere with hair. Its facial features were gone.

_Words aren't the only way to tell someone how you feel_.Another featureless face. Judging by the body and the voice, it was a woman, but all names escaped him.

_I'll be going now. I'll come back when it's all over._ This voice. He hadn't heard this voice in a long time. He enjoyed it, but it brought him great sadness to hear it.

_You are just a puppet. You have no heart and cannot feel any pain. _This voice stirred Cloud's blood, or it would of if he had had any at the moment. He remembered this much, this was the voice that killed him. The blackness of his vision gave way to a massive burst of light. This light was so strong it hurt his consciousness to face it. He felt a hand graze his hand. This was all he could feel; it was as if he was a hand. A rush of feeling came back into his senses. He could see, he could hear, he could feel, he could taste, he could smell. He felt as if he was sucked back into his body. It hurt, and then he became numb. His body seemed as if it was reconnecting his consciousness back into it. He smelled sulfur, he tasted dust and blood, he felt pain, he heard cruel laughter, and he saw a man. He heard a voice from the back of his mind,

"Go Cloud. Be strong." It was that sad voice from before. This time though, it gave him great hope.

Cloud got up on his knees, he stood up. He saw him, the man. He still could not remember his or any other names though.

"Cloud, I've thought of a wonderful present for you... Shall I give you despair? Wait, it seems like that's what you are already feeling. Don't worry. I'll end your despair. I'll kill you." The man stepped closer to Cloud. His long silver hair was draped across his back. His black cloak blew and fluttered in the wind. His green eyes shot a powerful emotion at Cloud, but Cloud could not tell what it was. He held his 6 foot katana up to Cloud's neck. "That is what you cherish most, isn't it?" He pressed the katana up against Cloud's neck.

"That's not what I cherish the most." Cloud responded. He grabbed the man's sword. His hand bled, but he could not feel it. His fury rose.

"Then tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away." The silver haired man's eyes burned more ferociously.

"You just don't get it. There isn't a thing I don't cherish!" Cloud dashed forward. He felt cold steel pierce his chest, but he would not stop. Whenever he looked at this man, he felt a powerful rage. He remembered. He remembered pain. He remembered his cruel laughter. He remembered his words, the words that had changed Cloud's life forever…

_What I have shown you is reality. What you remember... that is the illusion._ He still could not remember the man's name. Then Cloud heard his own voice.

_I'm...Cloud...the master of my own illusionary world. _

"An illusion?"

_Yes, its all an illusion._

"No, how can there be so much memory if it is all an illusion?"

_They aren't your memories, you aren't Cloud._

"If I'm not Cloud than who am I?"

_You are………a puppet. _Cloud pushed the man off the edge of the building they were standing on. They both fell. The wind swept through their hair and had it blowing all over the place. The man tried to keep himself from falling by stabbing it in the side of the building they were falling next to. Cloud punched the man in the face and he let go. They continued to grapple, blood flying everywhere as limbs met chests and faces, and bones broke.

"I am not a puppet!" Cloud raised his hand for one final punch to the face when he saw the man's eyes. He realized what the emotion was. It was sadness. It was despair. It was longing. Cloud couldn't bring his hand down on the man's face. The ground drew nearer. The man stared at Cloud and uttered something. Cloud could not hear it, but could read his lips.

"Forgive me Cloud, I'm sorry." There was a flash of green, and then the world went dark.


	2. Besaid

Cloud's vision slowly came into focus. He wasn't dead. He was pretty sure of that. He looked up and saw a blue sky. It was beautiful. It was dotted with clouds, like right off of a post card. He sat up. The scenery really was picturesque. There were palm trees and the grass seemed to be a perfect green. There was a river in front of him. The water was clear, cool, and crystalline. Cloud tried to get to his feet. He was able to, but his legs shook violently. He had bruises all over him and he was pretty sure his left wrist and knee were broken. He looked at the ground we had been laying on. It was soaked with blood, but all of Cloud's wounds had healed enough to have stopped bleeding. It made him wonder just how long he had been lying there. He limped over to the water and slowly lowered himself in. Where the hell was he? It had to be some place far away from Midgar, because the land around there is all wasteland. How did he get here? Did someone find his body and drag it here? Or was that green light some sort of warp portal? And where was the silver haired man? Cloud looked around, but there was no sign of the man. If the green light was a warp portal, he got warped somewhere else. Cloud splashed some water on his face. All that left was the question why.

"Why…" Cloud muttered under his breath. That question was the only constant in his life. Why was he here? Why was he fighting that man? Why couldn't he remember anything? Why had his mind betrayed him? Cloud's mind was a vortex of swirling confusion and pain. When he thought of nice things, like the bits and pieces he could remember about his loving parents, he felt hate, but when he thought about that man, and his glowing eyes, he felt love. Why? Why was this happening? He only remembered sad things. His joyful memories were too far out of reach. He could see them, in the back of his mind, but as he drew near, they vanished. Even the parts of his memories he did have were incomplete. He remembered a brown haired girl, her smile as bright as the sun, snuffed out by the silver haired man with the eyes. He knew he loved this girl, but his feeling betrayed him. He could not feel sadness over her death. He remembered his best friend, a man with untidy grey hair, but all he could remember was his death, the bullet, driven into his head. "Grah!" Cloud cried in pain as his brain convulsed with anguish. _Make it stop. MAKE IT STOP!_ He grabbed his face, tearing at his features, ignoring the pain from his left hand. Despite the beautiful scenery, all Cloud could see was blood, darkness, and the anguished distortion of his own face in the water. He plunged forward into the water. He thrashed about, trying to make the pains go away. He splashed about in the water until he couldn't anymore. His vision blurred, the light faded, and slowly, very slowly, the pain went away…along with everything else.

"Hey, what are ya hanging around here for? You look pretty banged up. Someone in your condition should be in a bed or something, ya know?" Cloud opened his eyes. He saw a red-haired man with a blue headband wearing large baggy yellow overalls standing over him. He had a concerned look on his face.

"W…who…who are you?" was all Cloud could stutter out.

"The name's Wakka, but that's not important right now. We need to get ya back to the village so I can get someone to patch you up." He hoisted Cloud over his shoulder.

"Ah!" Cloud cried out in pain.

"Sorry bout that, but it won't take me too long to get ya back to the village." Wakka jogged off into the jungle. Cloud was in too much pain to pay attention to the surroundings, he remained in a zombie like half-sleep. After a painful jog back to the village that the man apparently named Wakka brought him to, Cloud could faintly hear his voice. "I got a live one! He looks like he was beaten up pretty badly. He must have escaped from some soldiers."

"Where did you find him?" Another voice piped in. This one was feminine, but like that of a young girl.

"He was off near the river. I heard an explosion so I went to investigate. As I got closer, I heard some yells, so I began to run, when I got there, I saw this man floating in the water."

"How bad are his injuries?"

"I don't know, all I can see is a broken wrist and a broken knee, but that isn't enough to make all this blood, ya know?"

"Wait if he was attacked by soldiers, which must mean they're near."

"I don't think so, I think he crash landed here."

"I guess that explains the explosion."

"Well hurry up and ready the bandages, we need to fix him up." That was the last thing Cloud heard before he passed out.

Cloud woke up in a soft bed. The pain that was hurting him so badly before seemed like a dull throb. He turned his head he saw his left arm, it was bandaged from the shoulder, all the way down to the finger tips. His right arm was only bandaged down to the wrist. He couldn't see his legs under the blankets, but since he couldn't move them, he assumed they probably had bandages on them too. He felt a cool cloth resting on his forehead. He tried to sit up, but his body wouldn't let him. He looked around the room, or at least what he could see of it. There were jars of fluids and herbs, all labeled with weird shapes. He saw woven baskets and large decorate blankets draping the walls. There was no metal to be seen. All in all this was very unusual scenery for Cloud.

"Ah, finally up I see! I was beginning to think that you wouldn't pull through." It was the big man, Wakka. Behind him was a small…girl. She wasn't yet a woman in his opinion, but she definitely wasn't a child. She had long blond hair and was wearing a sleeveless shirt and shorts. She also had goggles hanging around her neck. Now that Cloud thought about it, these weren't clothes he had seen before. The whole visible culture of this island seemed…native. It wasn't very advanced at all.

"Yeah…" replied Cloud, "How long have I been out?"

"Oh, I dunno," the girl piped in, "maybe 3 days or something." Three days? After three days he was still incapacitated? He didn't think he was that injured.

"Really? I need to go!" Cloud said alarmed. That man was probably still out there. Cloud didn't know why, but his mind kept telling him that the silver haired man was evil.

"Whoa, slow down there bud. You aren't in any shape to be going anywhere. You gotta rest up before you can start moving around again, ya know? You have a broken knee, a broken wrist, a broken elbow, your left leg is broken in three places, and you had cuts and bruises all over your body. You're gonna stay put right in that bed." Wakka crossed his arms over his chest.

"No, you don't understand, there's someone I need to find," Cloud cried in protest, "He's probably somewhere around here!" Cloud pushed with all his might to try and get out of bed, but at his best he was only able to swing his right leg out of the bed. A jolt of pain shot through his body.

"No ya don't," Wakka move towards Cloud, "Rikku," he motioned to the blond girl, "go get some of the sleeping potion."

"Aye-aye sir," she saluted and dashed out the door. Wakka grabbed Cloud and repositioned him back in the bed. Cloud tried to struggle, but his body fought him. The girl, Rikku, came back with a bottle of blue liquid. "Open wide!" she opened Cloud's mouth and dumped the liquid down his throat. Cloud tried to fight it, but he swallowed the liquid anyway. His vision got cloudy, and then he fell asleep, limp on the bed.

"What do ya think he meant by 'someone I need to find'?" Wakka looked up at Rikku.

"I dunno, you said maybe he crashed, maybe it was someone else in the ship, like one of his friends or something." Rikku looked down at Cloud, and then over to his clothes hanging over on the wall. "You know, his clothes look kind of strange. I wonder where he comes from."

"Aww, there are plenty of people we don't know about, and with the known world expanding as fast as it is, he could be from anywhere." Wakka looked out the window, "Thing is, Besiad Island is just a small little piece of the puzzle, ya know? There's a whole world out there. We know that. Remember, Sin was not really what he seemed to be, so I think it might be the same way with this world, ya know?"

"Yeah," Rikku replied, "It's just, this guy seems different. I mean, his eyes, I never seen eyes like those. So full of…sadness…despair…longing."


	3. Departure

1 month had passed. Cloud recovered enough to get moving around and participate in some physical activity. He learned how to read the language these people used. It was a wonder why he could understand their speech, but their written words had escaped him. Cloud assumed that it was because the spoke the same, but just had different ways of writing it down. He learned how to play a game called blitz ball which Wakka was a pro at. It took place in a sphere of specialized water and the object is to score with the ball into the opponent's goal area. Cloud became very skilled, very fast.

"Cloud, you've become a top blitz ball player, and you've only been playing for a few weeks, how do you do it?" Rikku looked at Cloud inquisitively.

"I…dunno, I'm just kind of good, that's all." Cloud stalked off back to the hut that had been made for him in the deeper part of the jungle. Cloud liked to be solitary.

"Pft, what's his problem, he never talks." Rikku look at Cloud indignantly.

"Aww, that's just the way he is," Wakka walked up next to Rikku, "Some people are just quiet, ya know?" He wrapped his arm around Rikku's neck and gave her a noogie with the other. "I wish you were more like him sometimes." Rikku struggled to get away, but Wakka wouldn't let go. They laughed and wrestled around for awhile as all of the other blitzball players walked away.

"Wakka! Everyone's leaving, lets go!" Rikku slipped out of Wakka's grip.

"Aye! Fine, fine, lets go." Wakka stood up and followed after Rikku. It was a bright and sunny day; nobody would have thought that anything could go wrong.

"Ha ha ha ha…HA HA HA HA HA!" The silver haired main stared down at Cloud. His eyes glowed blue with madness. "What's this? The mighty Cloud, reduced to this pathetic sight. I didn't think it possible." The man jumped off of the top of the hut and landed on the ground. He wore a white cloak and a feather in his hair. He had somewhat feminine, slight features. He was about half a head shorter than Cloud.

"Who are you, what do you want? You are not the one I am searching for." Cloud stood up and wiped the blood off of his lip.

"You're searching for someone? I would have never guessed. All you do is sit around this village, indulging yourself in that ballgame." The man walked over to Cloud, grabbed him by the neck, and hoisted him into the air. "Where is your sword Cloud? You can't hope to defeat anyone without that." The man flicked his wrist and tossed Cloud to the side. Cloud hit the ground and pushed himself onto his knees. His white and purple Besaid clothes were getting torn and dirty.

"When did I say I was trying to defeat you? What have I done to provoke you? Leave now." Cloud stood up and tried to walk past the man into the hut. The man sighed.

"Cloud, Cloud, Cloud," the man shot his arm out at Cloud and drew him to his face. "You've forgotten your mission. Find him; find the man with the green eyes." Cloud's eyes widened.

"You know him? Tell me, where is he and what is his name?" Cloud pushed away from the man and stood waiting for an answer. It never came.

"Now, now Cloud, if I told you everything, you wouldn't do anything for yourself." The man jumped onto a tree. "I'll give you a starting lead though. Go to the Zanarkand Military Academy. When you get there, tell them that Kuja sent you." The man, apparently named Kuja, jumped into the sky. There was a flash of light and he disappeared, but his voice lingered. "I'll be waiting for you Cloud." Cloud just stood there, looking to the sky. The wind blew through his hair. It was time to leave this place.

"What! You're leaving already?" Wakka stared at Cloud, mouth open wide. "You just got here. I bet you haven't even fully healed!" Cloud just stared at the ground. "This is fast. It seems like you just got here. I barely even know who you are." Cloud continued to stare at the ground.

"I barely even know who I am myself. That's why I must leave." Cloud stood up, not looking Wakka in the eye, "I thank you for your hospitality, but I cannot linger here." Cloud grabbed the pack set up for him and proceeded out the door.

"Wait!" Wakka stood up.

"I told you, I can't…"

"I heard you the first time. Here." Wakka held out a long leather-wrapped package. "This is for you." Cloud took it. "You remind me of a person I used to know. He used this sword. It was my brother's sword originally." Cloud unwrapped the package. There was a crystal blue, fish hook blade. Its craftsmanship was uncanny.

"Thank you." Cloud rewrapped the sword, strapped it to his back, and walked out the door. It was a nice place he was leaving. He knew he needed to find the silver haired man, but he didn't know why. There was that question again, why. Would he ever get to live in peace? Maybe, when this was all over, he'd come back. Maybe…

**That's the end of the prologue chapters! The real story starts now.**


	4. Arrival

The sandy wind blew through Cloud's hair, his brown protective tunic torn around the edges from at least a week in the desert. He stared at the massive structure in front of him. He had been traveling for months, finally finding the secret headquarters of the Zanarkand Military Academy. From what he had heard from the cities and villages he had traveled through, this was pretty much the source of military power on the planet. Strange, considering Cloud had never heard of it. The world must be a bigger place than he thought. None of the people he talked to had ever heard of Midgar. That was the one place Cloud did remember from his past. This structure, though, gave Cloud an eerie feeling. It was as if he had seen it somewhere before. Odd, because he didn't remember it at all. Lately all he had been thinking about was how to get here, and that girl he had met back on Besaid island. What was her name? Ah, yes, Rikku. It was odd, Cloud was strangely obsessed with her. Strange in the fact that it semi-distracted him from his mission, and also in the fact that one part of his brain was constantly thinking about her. It was some sort of infatuation. Maybe it was the "love" he had heard about on his travels.

"Pft, who needs this love?" Cloud thought, "From all I heard about it, it only brings trouble and strife into the lives of those who have it." Even though he tried to dissuade himself from these thoughts, his mind just couldn't do it. He resigned himself to the previous method of allotting a certain amount of brain power to these thoughts. Then he could use the rest for more important matters. It was about 2 more miles before Cloud reached the gigantic citadel, that's how truly large it was. He decided it was best to keep hiking. After about 30 minutes, Cloud reached the citadel. As he got closer, he noticed that the citadel seemed to be the top of a large building under the sand. When he got up next to the tower, there were no visible doors. He circled the tower for about an hour; final realizing the effort was futile.

"Looking for something?" A voice came from Cloud's left. He looked over his shoulder, but saw nobody. "Up here." Cloud looked up and saw a cloaked figure. It was wearing a black leather jacket. Cloud thought that looked a little warm, considering they were in a desert. The figure also had a hood that covered its face. A few streaks of brown hair hung down from under the hood. It was sitting down in an alcove, slumped against the side of wall. "There's no way in."

"How do you know?" There was a pause as Cloud continued to stare at the figure.

"I've checked." The figure never moved, but Cloud could tell that it was it talking to him.

"I have too, but that doesn't mean it's not there." The figure still didn't move.

"You don't understand…" Cloud continued to stare at the hooded figure. There as a long pause. Cloud tried to draw more information out of this person.

"How long have you been waiting here?" No response. Cloud just stood there, waiting for a response. He didn't believe he would like the answer when it came.

"I stopped counting a long time ago." Yup, that wasn't the answer Cloud was hoping for. The figure stood up, walked over to the edge of the alcove, and jumped down the 10 foot drop to the ground. The person drew back its hood to reveal a young man, no older than 25. He had untidy brown hair and a scar that went across his nose at a diagonal angle. "Just kidding, I've only been here a day or two." The man just looked at Cloud.

"Who…?" Cloud began to ask.

"The name's Squall." The young man extended his hand. "I was sent here by my master for further training. Unfortunately, even though I went through hell to get here, I can't get in." Squall cocked his head and stared at Cloud. "Why are you here?" Cloud grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously.

"The name's Cloud, if you were wondering, and I was told to come here by a man named Kuja."

"…Why?"

"I'm looking for answers…"

"Kuja? Hmm…" Squall stared intently into the sand, pondering the name.

"Do you know who he is?" Cloud waited intently for an answer. Squall still stared into the sand.

"Nope, I have no clue." Squall shrugged his shoulders. Cloud sighed. He thought he might have had some sort of notion on the enigma that is Kuja.

"Why…?" Cloud was about to ask, but Squall interrupted him with a finger. His face turned deathly serious.

"Shh, I hear something." Squall reached for his weapon. Cloud saw that it was in some kind of sheath, so he assumed it was a gun. Cloud looked off where Squall was looking. He could see nothing, but there was a rumbling noise. Then, all of a sudden, the sand in front of them shot into the sky with a blast of thundering noise. The force of the blow knocked both of them over. A 50 foot tower was now standing in the spot where the explosion occurred. The pair cautiously walked up to it. Sand shot out from the tower in a shaped that looked like a door. Two panels slid open, revealing a massive man dressed head to toe in white. You couldn't see his face or any skin on his body for that matter, but just by his build and voice, you were sure it was a man…or maybe a robot.

"State your purpose." The man blurted out at them.

"My name is Cloud and…" Cloud tried to say, but was quickly interrupted.

"Not you! Him." The man gestured at Squall. Cloud was getting interrupted a lot lately. "You said it yourself earlier, Kuja sent you. Go in, now." Seeing there was no point in talking, Cloud quickly ushered himself into the cramped elevator.

"My name is Squall and I was sent here by my master to receive further training." The man didn't move.

"Who is your master?" The man asked emotionlessly.

"His name is…Cross." Squall stared back at the man. The man's visor scrolled with green symbols. The symbols disappeared.

"That does not merit entry. The database says nothing of a 'Cross'."

"He said you'd say that," Squall rummaged through his cloak, "so he told me to give you this." Squall handed the man a gem engraved with a lion and a sword. The man examined it.

"Enter." The man stepped aside and made room for Squall. "Hold on." The man opened a panel on the side of the elevator and hit a large red button.

"Ha, a red button," Cloud thought, "How cliché." Suddenly, the elevator jerked and then fired downwards like a gun. Cloud began hover slightly off of the bottom of the elevator it was dropping so fast. There were no windows, so he couldn't see where he was. The drop lasted for about 5 minutes before it began to slow. Cloud's feet slowly touched back onto the ground. After about 2 minutes the elevator came to a complete stop.

"Exit. Now." Both Cloud and Squall exited the elevator. The doors slammed shut and with the sound of a cannon, the elevator shot back into a wall down a long corridor. The two couldn't see its final destination because the elevator turned a corner and the hatch doors slammed closed.

"So," asked Squall, "Where the hell are we?" They both looked out in front of them and the sight they saw amazed them. It was like a massive underground city. It was a cavern that stretched for miles in all directions with buildings so numerous, it made them feel very, very, very small. They were in a balcony-like structure that jutted out from the side of the cavern wall about 200 feet off of the bottom.

"I see some stairs," Cloud pointed out, "We might as well follow them." The two began to walk down the stairs. The stairs zigzagged back and forth. Neither of them talked. Neither of them had very talkative personalities. In fact, neither of them had much personality at all. After a long trek down, the duo found a door with large red letters above it that said, "Academy Recruits" above it. Cloud grabbed a handle on the door and slid it open. On the other side of the door was a room. Just your typical room. It was square, it had walls, a floor, a ceiling, and no windows. If someone told you they lived in a box, this is what would come to your mind. Squall and Cloud both stepped in. The door slammed shut behind them.

"Scanning process initiated," a voice called out from nowhere. Three red lasers shot out of the walls and spun wildly around the two. Their skin tickled as the lasers touched them, but neither showed it. The lasers suddenly stopped.

"Subject 1: Name: Squall. Height: 6'0" Weight: 163 lbs. Human." Squall just smirked and said,

"Hmm, lost some weight." Cloud paid no notice.

"Subject 2: Name: Cloud. Height: 5'11" Weight: 184 lbs. Unknown." Cloud looked puzzled. Wasn't the last phrase supposed to be the race? Squall got "human" so Cloud was sure that was it. Squall didn't seem to notice. Maybe it was just a glitch in the system. Yes, that was it, just a glitch. Cloud shoved that thought to the back of his mind. A door opened up on the other side of the room. They pair of men walked through. What they next saw seemed almost…normal. There was a blond haired man who looked a little older than Squall, but about the same age as Cloud. He wore a very professional military looking outfit. It was blue and trimmed with silver. It had a very high collar and was covered in medals. On his jacket was the word, "Tidus". Cloud assumed that was his name. He was sitting at a bench, eating rice. There were also more men around him wearing the same kind of uniforms, but their uniforms were less extravagant and didn't have nearly as many medals. On the other side of the room was another group of men. These ones wore black uniforms instead of blue. There was a man in the middle. He had long silver hair and wore a long black cloak. Cloud felt shivers down his spine. The man turned his head and Cloud saw what he didn't want to see. The man had glowing green eyes.

"Hello Cloud. So nice to see you again."


	5. The Silver Haired Demon

Pain is a constant in the lives of any human. Pain of fear, pain of injury, pain of sorrow, pain of anger, pain of death, pain of loss. We feel pain for many reasons. Our bodies feel pain when we are hurt because our nerves in certain places have been injured. Our hearts feel pain when we are sad to distract us from the thing making us sad. Sometimes though our bodies just seem to hurt for no good reason. At that moment, Cloud felt all of those pains all at once. His memories flooded back into his head, at least some of the ones about this man did.

_Only death awaits you all, but do not fear. For it is through death that a new spirit energy is born. Soon, you will live again as a part of me._ Cloud saw his companions and himself getting ready to fight this man. His powers were so strong, Cloud could remember feeling the air push down on his body.

_The knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia. Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the land and the Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves and the Planet, calling up magic_. Cloud remembered standing there, watching as the man imparted his knowledge, looking down upon Cloud.

_What are you saying? Are you trying to tell me you have feelings too?...Out of my way. I'm going to see my mother...Melding with the Planet, I will cease to exist as I am now... Only to be reborn as a 'God' to rule over every soul…After a long sleep, time has come._ The memories came flooding back into Cloud's mind. His head groaned with pain. He fell to the ground on his knees.

"Cloud!" Squall kneeled down next to Cloud, "Cloud, are you alright?" Everyone in the room focused on Cloud. They didn't get to see a true psychopath everyday. Cloud's memories of this man kept flooding into his head. They all hurt, they all filled him with sorrow. Then one of them appeared in his mind. It was…a normal memory. It made him feel hurt, but not for himself, but for the man with the silver hair.

_How does it feel? It's your first time in your hometown in a long time right? So how does it feel? I wouldn't know because I don't have a hometown._ Cloud remembered standing there, look at this man, his friend, his general, his leader, and feeling nothing but sadness for his comrade. Cloud had not know how lonely that must have felt at the time, but know that he had no memories of who he was and where he came from, he could imagine the pain of loneliness the man must have felt. That, though, was not enough to subside Cloud's rage.

"S…Se…Seph………Sephiroth!" He had finally remembered the man's name. The name tasted like poison on Cloud's lips.

"Why Cloud, I thought you had forgotten me. I'm glad that's not the case." Sephiroth smiled mockingly at Cloud. Or maybe it was genuine, Cloud was too angry to know.

"I'll kill you!" Cloud was in a mad frenzy. He unwrapped the fishhook blade, and charged at Sephiroth.

"Ah, Cloud, is that the way you treat and old friend?" Sephiroth's green eyes glowed with power. Cloud blinked once, and Sephiroth was gone.

"Wha…?" Cloud halted. Where did he go?

"Looking for someone?" Cloud felt two fingers prodding the back of his head. "Too slow." Sephiroth pushed the back of Cloud's head and sent him reeling forward. Cloud quickly recovered and came back at Sephiroth. Cloud swung his sword, but instead of hitting flesh, it hit steel.

"How dare you swing your sword at the Combat General!" The man labeled Tidus had dashed between Sephiroth and Cloud and had blocked Cloud's strike with his own sword. "Explain yourself!" Cloud eased up on his sword, but still gripped it tightly.

"I have come here to kill this man…" Cloud stared emotionlessly back at Tidus.

"So you're an assassin? Who sent you?" Tidus stared back at Cloud, but he looked quite flustered.

"No one sent me. I have come here by my own accord." Cloud turned his gaze to Sephiroth, who was now back at his table eating a lump of food that looked like mashed potatoes.

"Someone has to send you here for you to get in." Tidus began to loose his composure, "Whose name did you use?" Cloud remained silent. "I won't ask again, who…?"

"Kuja." Both Cloud and Tidus turned to look at Sephiroth. "The name of the man who directed Cloud here is Kuja." Cloud's eyes widened.

"How did you know?" Sephiroth didn't turn to look at Cloud but replied,

"You carry his aura pattern. Only Kuja has that type of aura pattern. I have met that man many times before in combat." Cloud stared at Sephiroth intently. "Kuja has a very strange relationship with this organization. He owns half of the organization, but he likes to toy with those who come here." Sephiroth stood up and stared at Cloud. "You now realize it don't you?" Cloud's stomach churned. Sephiroth continued talking, "It was all a test. He used your hatred of me to get you to come here. He's using you. He's using all of us. That's why I came here." Sephiroth walked over to Tidus. "At ease soldier." Tidus relaxed himself, but kept his eyes concentrated on Cloud.

"Wait, if you're a 'Combat General', why are you in the recruitment room?" Squall, who had been silent up till now, asked. Cloud stared at Sephiroth. This man was completely different than the one who haunted his memories.

"That answer is simple," Sephiroth took a seat, "This is the highest organization of the military. I qualify as a Combat General back in my military unit, but here, I have yet to prove myself." Squall then turned his glance to Tidus.

"You there, with the medals," Squall said, "What is your name and rank?" Tidus looked back at Squall.

"People call me Tidus. I am the Tactical General. My position is second only to that of the Combat General's." He gestured to Sephiroth. Squall nodded, and then drew his weapon. Everyone at the room was staring at him.

"Perfect. I was hoping you'd say that. My name is Squall Leonheart. My master sent me here to find you. Fortunately, I got here soon enough that you haven't been accepted yet. This makes my job of finding you a lot easier. I hereby place you under arrest by the authority of SeeD. Come quietly or I will have to use lethal force." Squall stepped closer to Tidus.

"What have I done? Besides, SeeD has no authority within these walls." Tidus drew his sword. It was a blade that looked somewhat like the one Cloud was using, except it was red and more curved along the blade. Squall put his weapon away. Interesting weapon it was. It had the handle and barrel of a revolver, but its barrel was short and mounted on top of the barrel was the blade of a sword.

"I'm just kidding," Squall walked toward Tidus and extended his hand. Tidus recoiled. "I just wanted to see how nervous everyone was." Squall nodded his head towards Sephiroth. "This guy is the only one who didn't move at all. The rest of you were jumping out of your seats." Squall tried to imitate the soldiers jumping out of their chairs. He looked like a monkey. Cloud almost laughed. Almost… Suddenly the door swung open. A man stood at the door. Actually, it wasn't a man. It was more like a big blue dog person with white fur. He scanned the room and then barked out,

"Which one of you goes by the name 'Cloud'?"

**OOH, plot development! Seriously though, I need some reviews. What should I improve on, what am I doing good at? Help me out people.**


	6. Another Day

Cloud was sweating hard. Squall was a skilled warrior. He was more agile than Cloud, better trained than Cloud, but Cloud had the strength advantage, and he had it in a big way. After Cloud had gotten half of his memory back, he had sorted through his memories and learned that he was a failed experiment. Infused with a material called mako, it gave him better fighting abilities and heightened senses. Sorting through his memories was hard, though, because as he learned from Sephiroth, through his own mind and Sephiroth's reminding him, half of the memories that Cloud "regained" were not his own. Half of them were his best friend's, Zack. Zack was a member of an organization called SOLDIER. He had helped Cloud escape from the lab of a man named Hojo. Hojo was the father of, and a man who created Sephiroth as he is today. The rest of the memories Cloud had regained were of his early life. He still didn't remember the names and faces of all of those voices from his still shattered memories, or who the Sephiroth of his later life was. The Sephiroth of Cloud's original memories was the one that filled him with hate and the one he wanted to destroy. This Sephiroth on the other hand was helpful, not evil, and an all around nice guy. Cloud had decided to stick around and find out more. Maybe the Kuja person who had told him to come here would have more answers.

Cloud was going to see if he could make it up the ranks and gain access to the information database to find out more about Kuja and Sephiroth. In the mean time, to get to a higher rank, he had to train and spar with others and had to learn basic military protocol. All the new members were assigned a partner. Coincidentally, Cloud's partner was Squall. Squall was an enigma in and of himself. He spoke very little of himself except for the fact that he was part of a secret organization called SeeD and he was here on account of his master, whose name was "Cross". Squall had told Cloud that that wasn't his master's real name, but he wouldn't tell him what the real name was. Except for the day of their arrival, Squall was an unsocial loner, just like Cloud. It seemed as Squall got to know people better, he withdrew himself more. It was a perfect situation for Cloud, because he hated talking to other people about himself. The two men sparred twice everyday. The current record was 52 to 42 in favor of Squall. While Cloud was overall a more powerful person, Squall's quick improvisation and battle trained prowess trumped Cloud more often than not. He was well trained in every martial art and could fight effectively with pretty much anything you put in his hand. He had beaten Cloud once with a knotted rope. Cloud had hacked that rope up at least 10 times, but Squall always kept his hands on the piece with the knot, and succeeded in bludgeoning Cloud into submission. Cloud admired him for these abilities. While Cloud had power granted to him, Squall had worked from the ground up. What amazed Cloud most was how silent Squall was. He could walk up behind you, eating a bag of chips, and you wouldn't notice him until 5 minutes after he left the room.

"So what's on the menu today?" Squall looked at Cloud and asked. They were lined up with their lunch trays along with the 200 other recruits.

"Hmm, lets see, mush, more mush, and even more mush." Cloud said with little joking tone in his voice. This was about as chummy as either of them got.

"Good," replied Squall, "I love my mush." Cloud laughed to himself. "Squall," he thought, "what a wit." The two walked over to a table and sat down. They both began eating without saying a word.

"Hey," said a voice from another table, "did you hear?" Another voice responded in kind.

"Hear about what?"

"There's going to be a tournament in 3 days. It's supposed to be a surprise, but I heard about it from a guy who failed last time."

"Failed?"

"Yeah, if you aren't ranked in the top 20, you have to try again next year."

"Try again for what?"

"Well, I heard the tournament judges what branch you end up in."

"So certain rankings go to certain sections?"

"I guess…" The talking stopped. Cloud kept eating as if he didn't hear anything. Squall didn't say a word either, but you could tell he heard. They both finished eating and walked back to their room. Cloud saw a slip of paper on his bed. Squall had an identical one on his. Cloud picked it up and read it:

"You are here required to come to the Tournament Hall at 800 tomorrow. The Staff." Cloud closed his eyes and muttered, "That guy got his info wrong." Squall just grinned. "I always love a good fight."


	7. Rikku

Cloud was lying in his bed. Tomorrow was the tournament. Many thoughts were racing through his head. What would he do next? What were his real goals? What had happened to his memories? There was one thing, though, that he couldn't get out of his head.

"Rikku…" He muttered. Her smile was hypnotizing. Her blond hair was like a bright shining light in the darkness of the world. She took care of him when he was sick. She helped him even though Cloud did not know who he was. He missed her. It was the only thing he did miss. Everything else…he just wanted to leave behind.


	8. An Everyday Job

Cloud gazed around the bar. It was a dump. Smoking patrons littered the room. The walls stunk with smoke. They reeked of it. It was disgusting. Cloud abhorred that smell. He hated these places, but that was the mission. This was his rendezvous point. Squall sat across the table from him, reading the newspaper. It looked like he was doing something important, but Cloud knew what he was really doing. He was reading the funnies. Some Black Ops agent. Ah , yes, the Black Ops. Cloud and Squall had made it easily into the top 20. They had never had to face Sephiroth, Tidus, or each other. It was quite strange actually. Cloud had though he would have faced some opposition. All of his opponents were weaklings compared to the fights he had with Squall. He was placed 3rd in the tournament league. While the wins were all the same, performance wise, he had been beaten out by Squall and Sephiroth, only beating out Tidus by a hair. Cloud might have been strong and an able fighter, but he was out shadowed by his peers when it came to battle training.

Anyways, Cloud had been deemed most suitable for black ops work. There were three organizations. One was the black ops. The black ops were basically the assassins of the ZHCM (Zanarkand High Command Military). They killed those who got in the way of the military. Targets ranged from ex-soldiers who tried to sell info to other organizations, to gang lords who tried to take over small districts. They were the dogs of the military, the silent arm that lurked behind the curtains and removed all opposition. The second group was the EMC (Elite Mercenary Company). They were the ZHCM's main source of income. They were the elite soldiers for hire that who worked alone, or at most in pairs, and remained under the overseeing jurisdiction of the ZHCM. While the paying organization had direct control over the EMC soldiers, any higher order from ZHCM HQ came first. Sephiroth was placed in this branch. The final branch was the Tactical Command. This was the branch that contained the most people. Tidus was placed in this branch. While its name might not portray this, this branch is the main fighting force of the ZHCM. When the ZHCM needed something done in a large scale, this was the branch they called upon. They were not subtle in anyway. Out of all of the branches, this is the one that could be mostly called an army.

"Eh? Cloud, look at this." Squall motioned to the newspaper he was reading. "I noticed this headline on the front page. Think it might have anything to do with the target?" Cloud grabbed the newspaper. It was a wrinkled old copy about 3 days old. He didn't care. Any information was good in this line of work. He stared at the picture. There was a picture of a man with messy, long, black hair. He had sunken eyes and an insane grin. The headline read: "Killer escapes jail. Suspect of 2 recent murders. Name is Kwabuki Sessiro. If seen, call the emergence number immediately." Cloud spit a straw out of his mouth.

"Sounds like our guy, lets go Squall." Cloud put the newspaper down and stood up. Squall did the same.

"Aye, stop talking like you're the boss all the time. Maybe I don't want to go." Squall spit his cigarette out of his mouth and stepped on it. Cloud grinned.

"So you're saying you don't want to go?" Cloud turned to face Squall.

"Nope, I never said that, let's go." Squall turned and walked out the door. Cloud knew Squall all to well. There had been no action for days and even a small fry like this Kwabuki could offer some entertainment. Both Cloud and Squall had begun to come out of their shells, at least with each other. These missions were sort of a bonding experience. Neither of them could stand the dull military atmosphere back at HQ, so sometimes they found themselves dragging missions on longer than normal. Everyone was always so stiff necked back at the HQ. They had even heard rumors that Tidus, Tactical Sergeant Tidus, had used to be a loose hanging blitz ball player back in the day.

"Yeah right," Cloud had thought when he heard this, "That guy's wound so tight, he'd still be constipated after he drank a gallon of laxative." Oh well, mind banter aside; there was work to be done.

"So, you must be Kwabuki," Squall was holding his gunblade loosely at his side, "Come with us or die." The man named Kwabuki just grinned.

"You mercenaries can't kill me! Besides, even if I did go with you peacefully, I'd end up dead anyways." He pulled a saw knife out of his jacket. "You guys can go to hell."

"Hmm," Squall just closed his eyes. He stood there calmly in the alley. His hair and jacket were getting blown about by a breeze that was blowing between the buildings. "I really didn't want to do things the hard way." Squall didn't even bother taking a battle stance. "No, correction, I actually did." There was a flicker and Squall was gone. Trash blew outwards from where he had been standing. Cloud was squatting on top of a graffiti covered building, watching the fight from above. They decided Squall would handle this one. Two on one with this loser would just be a waste of energy.

"Wha…where did he go?" Kwabuki stepped backwards looking around. "Where'd he go!?!"

"I'm right here." Squall appeared behind Kwabuki. He plunged his gunblade through Kwabuki's back. Blood spurted out of the penetration. Kwabuki grunted. He tried to step forward, but the blade was too far in.

"H…how? So…so fast." Kwabuki stuttered.

"Geez, you're a hardy one aren't you? That would have instantly killed most." Squall ran his hand through his brown hair. A gunshot echoed throughout the empty streets. Squall had pulled the trigger. He slid his gunblade out of the dead man's body. Kwabuki fell to the ground. It was over.

"Checkmate," muttered Cloud to himself. Being a Black Ops was a violent job, but someone had to do it. Didn't they? Cloud jumped down, ready to congratulate Squall on a job well done.

A man was sitting in a dark room, only lit by the fluorescent light of a computer. In the dim glow it was impossible to make out his features.

"So Cloud, it seems you're beginning to adapt yourself. Good, that's what I expected of you. Only you could adapt so well after losing your memories. Keep up the good work, old friend."


	9. The Lesson

The dark room seemed to close in around them. The magistrate sat at his desk surrounded by his advisors. They all wore black hoods and black capes that veiled their faces. Each spoke through a voice encoder, so that no one would know what they sounded like. If this group had a motto it would have been mystery. Cloud always hated coming here, but he had to come to turn in successful missions and receive new ones. Squall stood next to him, unnerved. He was always calm, always collected. Except for when they first met Tidus, Cloud had never seen Squall smile. It made him wonder, did the two previously know each other? Oh well, the past wasn't important. It would never be important. It was only the hindering chain which allowed no progress into the future. Cloud would forget about the past, as he would forget everything else.

"You have done well, as expected. The target was nothing more than a homicidal fool who had the guts to defy us." The shadowy figure that was the magistrate didn't move. "Don't pat yourselves on the back just yet, though, we have another assignment for you." The magistrate picked some papers off of his desk and tossed them to Cloud with precision and accuracy, so much that the papers didn't separate or flutter about. Cloud caught them in his left hand and gazed over the papers. At first glance, it didn't look like anything special, that is, until one of the advisors piped in.

"This man is an ex-Black Ops agent. He was one of our best, but he betrayed the organization."

"Why…?" Squall began to ask.

"Your's is not to know, but to do. Now depart on your mission." The room filled with silence. That was the queue to leave. The two men walked out of the room as quickly as possible. As they stepped out the door, the two metal plates slammed behind them.

"Whew," sighed Cloud, "I hate it in there. It's so intense." Squall just brushed past him.

"Whatever, I don't really mind." Squall walked away. "Let's go, we have another mission." Cloud sighed. Squall became more and more impersonal every day.

"Fine, you first," Cloud walked after Squall. The two men had no idea what they were getting into. The question Squall was about to ask earlier? Well, it had something to do with the fact that there was no target name on the mission papers.

Both Cloud and Squall stood on a busy road near the lake in the city of Luca. It was bothersome.

"The info man at Kilika told us that the suspect was in Luca, but we've been here for 5 days and have had no sign of him. We don't even know his face or name." Cloud slumped down and sat on a fountain. Squall stared off into the distance.

"Maybe they didn't give us a name or face because he has no name or face." Squall turned to Cloud.

"What?" Cloud stared at Squall bewildered.

"It's simple. They said he was a Black Ops agent, right?" Cloud nodded in confirmation. "I think its because he's a Black Ops agent, one, he could probably disguise himself well enough anyway, and two, if we just happened to lose these papers and somebody found them, the existence of the Black Ops would be revealed one way or another." Cloud's face brightened with realization.

"I see, because to the common government, nobody from the Black Ops exists, so if they give us anything that would signify that he is a Black Ops agent, we'd all be found out." Squall just sighed.

"You just repeated EXACTLY what I said, idiot." He just sat down next to Cloud. "But it doesn't really matter. Our first course of action should be to look for any strange members of this peaceful society." Cloud just smiled.

"Which means we need to look for the most normal person." Squall's eyes flickered in agreement.

"Exactly."

There was a knock at the door.

"Who could it be?" Auron sighed, "I don't have time for visitors." He stood up and walked over to the door and looked through the small peephole. His face darkened. "Who are you?"

Cloud busted down the door.

"I'm your executioner." Cloud and Squall stood in the doorway. Cloud with his blue crystal blade, and Squall with his gunblade.

"So, it comes to this. Is the ZHCM really so weak that it needs to defeat everyone who could possible pose a threat to it?" Auron just stood in front of the two Black Ops men that stood menacing before him.

"Getting rid of your potential enemies," Squall muttered, "isn't weakness…" He walked towards Auron. "It's strength." Squall squng his sword at Auron, only to have Auron grab his blade in his bare hand.

"Maybe so, but if you can't defeat your enemies before they are your enemies truly, then that just proves your weakness." Auron tossed Squall's gunblade to the side and kneed him in the stomach. Squall grunted and staggered backwards.

"Stow it Auron," Cloud offered a hand to Squall, who grasped it and hoisted himself back up. "We know who you are, and what your offense is. Don't try to act innocent." Auron just shrugged. "So, this confidence and authority, is it the real thing, or are you going to fail me, just like everyone else." Auron grabbed a wrapped object off of the wall. "It's been a long time," The cloth fell off to reveal a jeweled katana made of black steel. Its hilt was made of a solution of silver and gold and inset with a large ruby, "hasn't it, my sword, Murasame?"

Cloud lay on the ground, his body battered and broken. Squall lay next to him, about as injured as he was. Auron stood above them his sword resting upon his shoulders.

"You two are weak. You fail." He turned to walk away.

"Wait," Cloud struggled to sit up. "Aren't you going to finish us off?" Auron stopped walking.

"Why would I do that?"

"Why not? You did it to your friends, didn't you? That's why were after you. That's what the info said." Cloud struggled to his feet. Auron paused, and then turned around to face Cloud.

"You have no idea…" He relaxed his arm so that his sword hit the ground. "You don't realize why I did that."

"No, maybe I don't, but anyone who would kill his friends is trash in my opinion." Cloud raised his sword and pointed it at Auron. "You deserve death."

"Ha, you get angry at me for killing my companions, and yet you swing your sword around, dealing judgment how you please. I don't need your flimsy justice. Justice is always on the side of the victor, and clearly, I have won."

"I wouldn't say that." Cloud sprinted towards Auron. "Limit rush style!" Cloud's sword glowed with energy.

"Too slow," Auron appeared behind Cloud and gave him a swift kick to the neck. Cloud flew through the air and crashed into the side of a building. Auron walked over to Cloud. "I won't kill you, but I will tell you what happened. It was that man. The one with the silver hair and the blue eyes. He possessed my comrades. My friends. I had to kill them. The man, he made them kill innocents. It was what they would have wanted me to do. The Black Ops couldn't see it though. They only saw me as a traitor. I will always remember that day. The man who forced me to kill my friends. Kuja, the white demon." Cloud stared up at Auron. Auron just looked down at him with pity. "You do not know his horrors. He is a monster, both in body and spirit. Trust no one. Not even your friends." Auron turned around and walked away. Cloud saw him walk into the distance. He lay there for awhile, thinking of what Auron had said. Cloud felt in his mind that Auron was right. His own memories had betrayed him. All Cloud knew of himself was the pains concerning Sephiroth. Those painful memories. The Sephiroth that plagued Cloud's past was evil, of that he was sure. The new Sephiroth was not. It only seemed to make Auron's message sink in deeper.

"I will not distrust my friends," Cloud thought, "If I do that, I will have nothing to trust. Not even myself." After what seemed like hours Cloud saw a blurred figure. The figure slowly came into focus. It was Squall.

"Need a hand, friend?" Cloud smiled. He would be cautious of his surroundings and those in them, but a good, trustworthy friend was hard to find. That's what Squall was, a friend.

**Alright, now I know that these past few chapters have been slow, but it's just because I needed to show Cloud redeveloping as a character. This is when things get interesting (and less broken up.) Review Review! Though to the people who have been, thanks a lot. Keep it up! A good review always brightens my day.**


	10. A New Day, A New Mission

Cloud climbed out of bed. It was a bright sunny day and his fifth day on his 21st mission. His mission today was to find a cat. This cat wasn't an ordinary cat. It was carrying secret info in its stomach. This info could reveal the entire existence of the Black Ops, so it was very important. Unfortunately, the agents that were supposed to transfer the cat were the two lowest ranked agents in the organization. As fighters, they were skilled. As tracers, well, the sucked. They lost the cat and it got abducted by some gang leader.

"Ah! A bright shiny new day and a new mission to complete." Cloud stretched his arms out. His outlook on life had improved lately. He decided since that it didn't seem like he was getting the rest of his memories back anytime soon, he would try and start anew. He was especially happy because he would get vacation leave after completing this mission, and he knew exactly where he was going to go. Besaid Island. Why? Who else but Rikku. He had visited her once since his initial leave, and since Cloud wasn't an emotional wreck anymore, they hit it off pretty well.

"Would you shut up? I'm trying to sleep, idiot." Squall rolled over in his bed, trying to block the sun from his eyes. Cloud walked over to Squall and ripped off his blanket.

"What did you that for?!?" Squall was up in Cloud's face before you could say:

"AHH!" Cloud yelled as Squall attacked him with his flailing arms. The two had grown very chummy over the past few months. As chummy as those two could get at least.

"Yo! Up and at up guys, mission's a'waitin!" At the door stood a tall young man with long brown hair and a cowboy hat. He had a rifle holstered to his side and he wore a long detective style cloak. He was a new recruit that came from the same teacher as Squall and had also ended up in Black Ops with a specialty in tracking and killing.

"Yo! Irvine what's up? Is it time to go?" Cloud asked Irvine as he wrestled with Squall.

"Yup, so get your asses out the door, time's a'wastin." Irvine said as he walked away from the door. Squall stopped fighting with Cloud. His composure made a complete 180.

"You heard him, lets go." Squall threw on his pants and his jacket and headed out the door. Cloud followed too. It was good to have friends.

"So Irvine, what did you find out about the hit?" Cloud asked.

"Quite a bit actually. He's a big time crime boss. He has this city wrapped around his thumb. They pay him and in turn he doesn't kill someone. If someone can't pay the money, they die." Irvine adjusted his hat. "Kinda harsh if you ask me."

"He's scum, this is what scum do," Squall chimed in, "If you want to kill a rat infestation, you poison the hole. So where is the dragon's lair?"

"His base of operations is 600 miles northwest of here in a white building in the slums of New Zanarkand." Irvine responded.

"Well, that means we've got a trek ahead of us then?" Cloud asked.

"No," said Irvine, "I've set us up some transportation while you guys slept. It'll take us about 20 hours to get there."

"30 miles an hour? Kinda slow if you ask me." Squall conveyed his annoyance.

"Well, yeah. I couldn't book an airship because we're completely broke, and the train around here is controlled by mobs."

"So what did you book us?"

"Wark!" The chocobo squawked in pleasure as Cloud patted its head.

"You bought us three chocobos?" Squall asked angrily.

"Well, yeah. What's wrong with that?" Irvine stared at the large yellow flightless bird. It was a little bigger than an ostrich and had the body of a muscular chicken.

"It's like riding a big chicken, and you didn't rent them, you bought them." Squall crossed his arms. "I'm not doing it."

"Squall, don't be so angry." Cloud tickled the chocobo. "I think he's cute. Besides, you just slept all last night. Irvine tried to help and I think he did a pretty good job." Cloud high-fived Irvine. "I'm going to name mine Boco," Cloud said.

"I'm going to name mine Choco," added Irvine. "What about you Squall?"

"You know what? I'm going to name mine 'I'M NOT RIDING A STUPID CHOCOBO' Irvine!" Squall looked at his chocobo. The chocobo just cried,

"Wark!" and pecked Squall on the nose.

"I don't think the chocobo likes that name," said Cloud as he and Irvine laughed. "I think we should name him Angry, because he looks just like Squall." The two men laughed again. Squall shook his head,

"Idiots."

The city of New Zanarkand was quite huge when you really looked at it. It was about 200 miles away from the Zanarkand mountains which bordered the Bikanel desert, in which the ZHCM HQ was stationed. The restoration effort made by the people in the surrounding cities was quite good. About 70 of it was as good as new. The other 30 was considered the slums. That was the trio's destination. There mission was assassination and the recovery of valuable information, but if you had walked up to them at that moment, you would have thought they were just a group of average joes walking around a city. The streets were filled with people. The way the city was being restored was from the outside in, so the further in you went, the shadier the people got. This also set up an interesting city layout because to avoid the gangs, the legal buildings and businesses were in the outer part of town with the housing, not the inner part. The three made sure to look as inconspicuous as possible and made sure to use the large traffic lane through town and took the long route towards the middle. The crime lord they were looking for was probably looking for three men on chocobos. The thing is, Black Ops agents traveled in threes and this guy had probably been noticed in advance about their arrival. This would present problems because that would have the gangs on high alert. They needed to get the cat, and if the cat no longer had the data capsule in it, kill all the higher ups in the gang to make sure everyone who had read it was no longer among the living. Then they would have to find the capsule itself.

"How troublesome," Squall thought.

**Sorry, I'm not going to be updating as frequently as I am getting much homework from school. Continue reading though!**


	11. The Capsule

"Squall, you go to the left. Irivne, swing right and cut them off." The three agents chased after the gangsters. They had gutted the cat and stolen the data pod. Now Cloud had no idea who held the capsule. There was only one solution. They had to hunt down every last one of them.

Squall veered off to the left and cornered the ten men trying to run down a waste disposal tunnel.

"Not this time." Squall brandished his gunblade. It was already soaked with the blood of the gangsters fellows. "I don't have anything personal against you, but my job description tells me to do my job as efficiently as possible. This is the most efficient way. Sorry." Squall moved so fast he seemed to flicker right up next to the first gangster. With one swoosh of his arm, the man's head was separated from his shoulders. Blood leaked out from his decapitated neck. Squall cracked his neck. "Alright, who's next?"

Irvine sat on a ledge, examining his targets. He let the men get into an open space so he could pick them off one by one. Irvine drew his gun up to his shoulder, looked through the scope, and pulled the trigger. One man fell and blood spurted out of his head where the bullet had entered. Perfect shot.

Cloud had found him, the guy with the capsule. He looked like the right hand man of the boss-leader he had disposed of back a ways. Cloud's speed allowed him to quickly catch up to the man. He dropped down from the ledge and cornered him.

"No where to run." Cloud drew his sword and pointed it at the boss-man. The boss-man just laughed.

"You think you can end the great Tsunori Kada? Fool, I've disposed of countless numbers of you Black Ops before." The boss-man drew his gun. "Die fool!" But before he could pull the trigger, Cloud was already behind him.

"I'm not like normal Black Ops." Cloud raised his sword and was ready to cut Tsunori down, but someone else got to him first. There was a flash of light and half of Tsunori was gone. The other half fell to the ground. Unfortunately, the side that got blown away was the same side that had the pocket containing the capsule. As Cloud looked around, he heard a voice that he had only heard once, but it seemed all too familiar.

"Hello Cloud, having a nice day are we?"

**I'm at kind of a cross roads so I might not update this for a bit.**


	12. Notice!

**I'll update this weekend! I'm buried in schoolwork so unfortunately for everyone; I won't be popping out chapters like hotcakes anymore. Thank you for understanding**.


	13. Tears

Cloud looked up at the balcony above him. It was those blue eyes, so full of madness. His feathery silver hair rested upon his shoulders. One thing was new though. From his left shoulder sprouted an angelic white wing. From the other was a wing of the same shape, but it seemed to be made of pure energy. As Kuja put his hand back at his side, the energy wing faded away and the white wing exploded into a burst of feathers.

"Kuja…" Cloud muttered.

"Hello Cloud," Kuja waved his hand, "I'm surprised to see you here." He jumped down from the balcony and landed in front of Cloud.

"Why are you here Kuja? Do you realize what you have done?" Cloud's anger burned in his eyes. Kuja just smiled.

"I'm just ridding the world of scum, that's all." Kuja kicked the remaining half of the corpse on the ground. "Do you have a problem with taking out the trash?" Kuja cocked his head to the side, inquisitively, but you could see he was trying to get under Cloud's skin. Cloud hated Kuja. Cloud was going to give the man a chance to fight. Kuja just wiped him out with the flick of his wrist…from the man's blind spot no less.

"I was going to give him a fair chance at fighting me. You snuck up like a coward." Cloud clenched his fists.

"Oh please, would it have really been a fair chance against you?" Kuja tossed his head. He clearly looked down upon Cloud, but he recognized his skill none the less. "You're just trying to argue semantics. I have my methods, you have yours." Kuja walked up to Cloud and whispered in his ear, "Do you really want to disagree with my methods?" Cloud shuddered. Kuja was emanating a bloodlust so powerful, that a fully grown lion would have run for cover.

"I do, but that aside, you destroyed the capsule I was assigned to secure. I could have you arrested for hindrance of Black Ops objectives." Cloud stood there, not looking Kuja in the eye. Kuja's bloodlust had calmed down, but Cloud remained wary.

"You mean this?" Kuja took a data capsule out of his pocket. This was the one Cloud had been looking for. Why did Kuja have it. "I took it from the boss and killed him. When I heard of your arrival, I planted that fake on his first mate."

"Why…" Cloud began before his was interrupted.

"Do you enjoy a fight when it is too easy? How about a movie with no action?" Kuja's eyes glowed with bloodlust again. "I did it to watch you squirm. It's as simple as that. The look on your face was priceless." Kuja put his forefinger on Cloud's head and sent him sailing through the air. Kuja was ungodly strong and he enjoyed showing Cloud that. "Your purpose in life is to amuse me Cloud, and you do it quite well. You amuse me to no end. One problem, though. You've grown lax of late." Kuja ran his hand through his hair. "Cloud, where is your sword?" Cloud was confused. He lifted up his crystal blade.

"Here it is. What does that have to do with anything?" Kuja just chuckled.

"No Cloud. Where is the sword in your soul? Where is your rage? Where is your hatred? Have you forgotten your goal?" Cloud stepped backwards. What was this feeling in Cloud's stomach? Was it hate? Maybe it was confusion. No, it was something different. It was fear. Kuja knew something. He knew something about Cloud's past. Kuja would always pop in from time to time to taunt and bother Cloud, but this time was different. Kuja was going to reveal something.

"What do you know?" Cloud had a horrified look on his face. With Kuja's bloodlust emanating this intensely, what Kuja was about to say, Cloud could never be prepared for it. Kuja was a mystery. He appeared from time to time. He was a wanderer. He was settled. He was a god. He was a devil. His very nature was contradictory. His mood changed like the faces of the moon. There was only one word for it. Kuja was the Enigma. Cloud fell to his knees. The pressure around them was increasing, so much that it pushed down on Cloud with the weight of a large tree. Kuja had lost all composure. Whatever he was thinking about must have been horrible. Kuja then uttered words Cloud never wanted to hear.

"Cloud…" his breath was heavy and rasping, "I killed your friends. I killed them all. You don't remember it, but I do. It was wonderful. They died so well. It gave me so much satisfaction killing them. It was lambs to the slaughter." Cloud felt tears welling up. He had no memories of his friends, but he knew it was true. The only face he remembered from his past was Sephiroth. He couldn't even remember that Sephiroth that well. Only one memory. It was so blurry…

_Cloud was lying against a wall. His body felt battered and bruised. He saw a man in front of him. He was standing in front of him, his arms raised to a creature in a tank. He was muttering things about his "mother". His long silver hair was draped down his back. It must be Sephiroth._

"_Sephiroth!" A voice cried out. It was another man. The man looked a lot like Cloud. For a second, Cloud almost thought he was the man. The man ran up to Sephiroth. Sephiroth turned around. There was something different about this Sephiroth. The Sephiroth Cloud met at the academy had those piercing green eyes, but these were cruel and cold, and they had a tint of, madness._

"_Zack, why are you here. You humans tried to take the world from mother. And look," Sephiroth motioned to the tank, "what you have done to poor mother." The man named Zack just fumed._

"_What have you done Sephiroth? Why is the town in flames?" Zack thrashed his arm at Sephiroth. "The Sephiroth I know would not have done this." Sephiroth looked back with cold indifferent eyes._

"_The Sephiroth you knew is gone. He was weak. You are weak. I am strong." Sephiroth drew his sword. "Nibelheim is no more. This is a testament to mother's power." Cloud's mind flared with realization._

"_Nibelhiem?" He thought. Yes, Nibelhiem. That was his hometown. That's where he met…_

"_Tifa, the girl you wounded is lying half dead outside that door. Have you know conscience?" Zack grabbed for his sword. It was a massive, foot thick sword that was about five feet long._

"_She was just…" Sephiroth paused and closed his eyes, then said, "a worthless human." Zack's face contorted with rage. He dashed at Sephiroth. Then everything seemed to fade away._

Cloud was still there, on his hands and knees, ready to feel Kuja's insane hunger for blood. The ground was cracked and pocked with holes. Cloud looked up. He saw a wounded Squall and a wounded Irvine fighting Kuja. They were covered in blood, their clothes torn and their bodies battered. Kuja was still clothed in pristine white. The only thing that made him seem like he had exerted himself was the cold sweat on his brow from his insane outburst.

"You fools!" Kuja yelled, "Why do you save him at the cost of your own lives?" The two just looked at each other and replied to Kuja,

"Because he's our friend." These words calmed Cloud. That was right. Even if he didn't have all his memories now, he still had friends. He had comrades who believed in him. Cloud rose to his feet. He grabbed his sword and dashed at Kuja.

"Kuja, today is the day you feel death's embrace!" Then Kuja disappeared. Cloud swung at mid-air. He felt a cold presence behind him. It was Kuja, but this was worse. Much worse.

"Cloud, you forget," Cloud shuddered as Kuja spoke, "I am death." Kuja brought his arm above his head and swung down. Cloud never felt the blow, because it never came. Instead he saw Kuja's arm stretched out from behind his shoulder. His palm was wide open and it was pointing at…Irvine. Cloud heard Kuja chuckled quietly.

"Cloud, you will not die today, but someone will." Kuja's palm began to glow. Irvine seemed to be frozen in place. Squall rushed to help him.

"Kuja no!" Cloud yelled. He tried to push Kuja's arm away, but it was too late. There was a flash of light and the next thing Cloud saw was Irvine lying on the ground, and a bloody Squall standing panting in the spot where Irvine was once standing. His arm and shoulder were blasted clean off. His face was covered in blood, as well as the rest of his clothes and body.

"S…Sq…Squall…" Cloud uttered. Squall looked at Cloud and grinned.

"I…It…" He coughed up blood, "It was…f…un…while it la…sted. Thanks." Squall's body fell to the ground. Cloud rushed to help him. Irvine stared in horror. Kuja was nowhere to be seen.

"Squa…ugh!" Cloud keeled over. He hit the ground hard. Irvine rushed to his side.

"Cloud, don't move, you're bleeding a lot." Cloud couldn't think straight. All he was thinking about was Squall. He needed to help Squall. "Cloud, you have a piece of metal in your back, stop!" Cloud wouldn't listen, but his body did. Cloud couldn't move anymore. He wanted to, but his body cried no. Tears ran down Cloud's face.

"Squall…" Irvine didn't try to help Cloud up. He was injured too much himself.

"Help!" He cried, "Somebody help us!" Time seemed to slow. The next few minutes seemed like hours. After some time had passed, Irvine heard voices. Three people were walking closer. As the people crested the ridge made by debris, their faces came into view. It was Colonel Tidus and two boys Irvine had never seen before. They both had blond hair, one darker than the other, and one wore it long in a ponytail. The other had his hair cut short. The lighter, long haired one seemed to be older. He wore a red coat and a black military outfit. The other wore a blue coat and the same black military outfit.

"Colonel, look, three men!" He pointed his finger at the three Black Ops. Tidus's eyes grew wide.

"Irvine, Cloud, Squall!" He dashed forward.

"Let's follow the Colonel." The older of the two brothers dashed after Tidus. The youinger paused, and then followed suit. Cloud lay there, immobile.

"Squall…" The tears had stopped. He was too tired to cry. Too tired…


	14. Reflections in a Pool

Sunlight shined through the window. Any other day this would have been a happy day, but today had to be the worst possible day of Cloud's life. It was all so vivid. Squall's face, covered in blood. Cloud had been rescued by Tidus and two of his men. They had rushed Squall and Cloud to the nearest place with some sort of medical facility. The closest place was Besaid. Squall was still alive by the time they arrived. Cloud had hoped that Squall would recover. He really did. It was a half hope.

_Cloud was standing in the medical room. The familiar smells from when Cloud was here for the first time. There were additions now. There were more machines. Squall was hooked up to them. His life support signs were low. Rikku walked in._

"_Cloud…" she had a sad look on her face. She looked up at Cloud, waiting for him to look back at her, but when he didn't, she continued. "The doctor's say he probably won't make it." Cloud just kept staring at his friend. His best friend. "Can I…" Rikku began, Cloud sat down and patted the cushion next to him. Rikku sat down. "What was Squall like, I mean, on the job? You know, he didn't really talk when you came to visit. I'm assuming he talked, I mean, everyone has to talk sometime." Rikku was flustered. Cloud didn't respond. "Oh, that's ok. It must be real hard on you right now." There was silence. It seemed to last forever when, unexpectedly, Cloud broke the silence._

"_He was a good friend. You're right. He didn't talk a lot, but his body language gave everything away. He always tried to act tough." A tear slid down Cloud's cheek, but he went on. "He was a man you could trust. He put his heart into his work and was loyal to a fault, though you would never expect it." Cloud sighed. He rested his head on his hands. "I never learned much about his early life. He did tell me something though. He told me of his master." Rikku looked confused. She could not understand the significance of this. Cloud didn't expect her too. She listened anyways though. "His master went by the name Cross. His real name was Seifer. He was Squall's older brother. While they never got along when the two were younger, Squall always looked up to Seifer. His greatest dream was to be like Seifer. Squall was always saying how if he could beat his older brother once in a fight, he would be a happy man for the rest of his life." Another tear ran down Cloud's face. "Unfortunately, Squall was never able to achieve his goal. His brother died in a war. I don't know what war it was, because I really don't know much about this place yet. All I know is that it was a war. Now Squall is going to follow his brother." Cloud burst into tears. Rikku put a hand on his shoulder. Cloud put his hand on hers. He hugged her and held her close to him. "Please tell me Squall is going to be alright." Rikku put her arms around Cloud, but she said nothing. "Please tell me." Cloud sobbed, "Please…" Rikku closed her eyes and began to cry._

10 hours later, Squall did not die, but you couldn't say he was really living either. Cloud remembered the doctor's words earlier in the day all too clearly.

_"He will never be able to walk again. The explosion reached and fractured his spine." The doctor sighed. He did not know what had really happened. They had told him that there had been and explosion in a run down building and that a piece of debris had severed Squall's arm. "Of course, he will have to live with only his left arm. I may be a skilled doctor, but this is all I can do for him. A robotic limb won't help him because of nerve damage." He put his hand on Cloud's shoulder, "I truly am sorry." The doctor wiped welling tears out of his eyes and left the room. Squall lay there on the bed. He still had extensive wires hooked up to his right side where the blast had hit him, but other then that all medical apparatus had been removed. Cloud sat down next to Irvine. Irvine had to make the mission report to HQ so this was the first time he had seen Squall in the medical bed._

"_It's a disaster," Irvine muttered, "Not only did we fail our mission, but now Squall is disabled. He'll never be able to work again." Most people would have heard that and thought that Irvine needed to get his priorities straight. Hey, at least he's alive. Cloud and Irvine knew different. Squall's work was his life. It was his way of dealing with the loss of his brother. He thought, whole heartedly, that if he could stop evil by being a soldier, he could avenge the memory of his brother. It was just too sad._

Cloud hung his legs over the ledge. He threw a rock into the pond. This was where Wakka had found him. Wakka was currently away on a blitz ball tournament, so Cloud had been using his house. The sunset painted the sky with purple and orange hues. It was almost beautiful enough to make Cloud forget. He heard footsteps behind him. It was Tidus. Cloud didn't say a word. Tidus didn't take that as a shrug off. In fact, he plopped down right next to Cloud.

"I'm sorry, if I had gotten there 10 minutes earlier. HQ told me they spotted Kuja and I rushed as fast as I could…" Cloud put his hand up to silence Tidus.

"It's fine. You wouldn't have made a difference." Tidus hung his head.

"Oh…" Cloud noticed his error and corrected himself.

"I didn't mean it like that, it's just," Cloud looked at his reflection in the water, "Kuja is a monster. If you had come earlier, you and your subordinates might have been injured or killed. You did the best you could." Tidus's expression lightened a bit.

"Thanks…" Tidus skipped a rock on the pond. "I talked to Sephiroth back at HQ." Cloud's ears pricked up with intrest.

"Oh really?" Cloud was all ears.

"Yup. Sephiroth says it's a shame that such a talented soldier died." Cloud smiled, but he still couldn't get that memory out of his head. Sephiroth's eyes. It was almost as if Sephiroth had stolen Kuja's eyes. It was unnerving. Tidus started up again. "He really seemed more interested about Kuja though." Tidus looked at Cloud. "I think there's something going on between the two." Cloud concurred. Back when Cloud had first seen Sephiroth at the academy, he had said something about how Kuja was "using" them all. Sephiroth's eyes had been so intense. They had a passion in them. There definitely was a connection between Kuja and Sephiroth, and Cloud's memories had the answer.

A shadowy figure sat on a chair in the dark room. It had its hand on its chin and was resting its elbow on its knee.

"Well, well Cloud, I see you have truly…re-experienced…the pain of loss. Don't worry though. You memories have much more pain in them." The shadowy figure stood up. "It's almost time Cloud. You must unlock the mysteries of you mind and confront your destiny." The figure stroked its chin. "The question is, can you confront your past and conquer your lost memories? Both your original memories and the memories of…another?"

**Phew, I hope that keeps you guys appetized for awhile. I worked my butt off because I felt guilty for not updating for a few days. (I know, most people take month long brakes.) I think it's because I enjoy the though that you guys enjoy my stories so much. Will we find out who this shadowy man is? Well, continue sticking with me and maybe we'll find out. Enjoy!**


	15. Of Men and Military

Cloud, Irvine, Tidus, and Tidus's two subordinates stood at the entrance of Besaid village. Everyone was waving them goodbye, even Squall. The group waved back, even Cloud. Squall was going to stay at Besaid and recover as much as he possibly could, and then he said he was going to find someone who could fix him. That he promised Cloud…

_Cloud stood on a cliff over looking the ocean. The quiet serenity calmed his troubled mind._

"_Cloud," Cloud turned around in order to see the source of the voice. It was Squall._

"_Squall," The two stood on the cliff, wind waving through their hair. "You should be in bed." Cloud stepped forward, "Are you alright?" Squall waved his good arm._

"_I'm fine, just a little sluggish from sitting in that bed so long. My muscles are going into atrophy." Squall smiled. Cloud smiled back._

"_I'm leaving tomorrow." Cloud turned back towards the ocean._

"_I know," Squall replied, "but you never forget about me, ok?" Squall extended his hand. Cloud turned his head back at Squall, body still facing the ocean and his arms across his chest._

"_On one condition…" Squall's eyes opened wide._

"_Hmm? What would that be?" A slight frown was on his face because Cloud looked so serious._

"_You have to get better." Cloud smiled, "I'm going to forget you unless your promise to find someway to fix yourself and come back as my wingman." Cloud extended his hand but didn't take Squall's. "Deal?" Squall paused for a second, and then gave Cloud his answer._

"_Deal." The two were crying and laughing at the same time as they hugged each other and shook hands. Two eyes were watching from the bushes. It was Rikku. She shook her head and sighed._

"_Men…"_

Before the men could leave, Rikku ran up and gave Cloud a big kiss on the lips.

"Come back, you hear?" Rikku smiled at Cloud. Cloud smiled back.

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon." Cloud gave Rikku a kiss on the cheek and left. The group of soldiers began down the road to the Besaid port. Irvine and Cloud had left their and Squall's chocobos back at Besaid where they would be looked after. Tidus was going to take them to a skyport. They were these big airbases that hovered high up in the sky and were only accessible to officers ranked First Lieutenant or higher, and their guests; A.K.A. Tidus and company. The one issue though was that the guests had to be ranked as a Sergeant Major or higher, as this is the highest rank a soldier can have before becoming an officer. Being Black Ops. agents, both Irvine and Cloud ranked individually as Sergeant Majors. This was officially instated so the Black Ops. had the basic privileges as officers, but could not be treated officially as such because they did not command soldiers. What confused Cloud and Irvine were the two subordinates who followed Tidus around. They were boys of probably 16 and 15 years, but they were going on this trip to the skyport as well. Whether they were Tidus's favorite subordinates or not, only military personnel ranked at the level of Sergeant Major could be in a skyport unless they were Al Bhed mechanics and weapons technicans. What was up with these kids?

"Yo, Tidus!" Irvine yelled, "Where are we going?" Tidus looked over his shoulder.

"I already told you. We're going to the Al Bhed skyport." Tidus turned his head back forwards and kept walking. The Al Bhed were a race of people who were extremely proficient in machinery. Rikku was an Al Bhed. Before the unification of the races, the Al Bhed were constantly struggling with the Yevonites. Now the Al Bhed ran most of Spira's technology hubs, skyports being an important one. While the Al Bhed and the Yevonites might have united, other races such as the Guado, a humanoid race with long limbs and fingers, pale skin, veins visible on the temples and forehead, and wild, tangled hair; the Hypello, a docile, amphibious race with blue skin who, though extremely quick and agile swimmers, were the only race in Spira that did not participate in blitzball tournaments; and the Ronso, a race of blue furred lion-like humanoids who lived on Mt. Gagazet, and were formidable warriors, being very tall and amazingly strong; still participated in uprisings against the human majority power. The Hypello much less than the Ronso or Guado because of their lackadaisical attitudes. Skyports were important beacons in order to keep the rebellions in check or to fight with the large armies that occasionally broke off from the majority power in order to gain their own control. The Zanarkand military was much less an instrument of power, and more of an instrument of prevention to keep people in check. The Black Ops. was the key player in that by snuffing out as many rebellions as possible before the army had to be resorted to.

Apparently, Irvine wasn't satisfied with that answer, because the question he asked was just a precursor to the one he was about to say.

"So, uhh, who are the kids?" Irvine had his hands behind his head and was walking peacefully along the trail, unaware that his question would spark a fight between him and Squall's subordinates.

"Who did you just call a 'super short midget kid?'" The older of the two brothers asked angrily. Now that the kid had pointed it out for him, Cloud noticed he was kind of short, but he thought that he might as well keep his opinions to himself.

"Whoa, I didn't say that!" Squall threw his hands up in defense.

"Edward, calm yourself!" Tidus spoke with the authority gained from many battles with troops under his command. Edward instantly composed himself.

"Sorry Colonel." Tidus put his hand on Edward's shoulder.

"I know you're self conscious about your height, but that's no reason to attack anyone who comes close to skimming the subject." Edward looked up at Tidus.

"Yes sir," He saluted. Tidus nodded his head, as if that was good enough for him.

"Sorry for my subordinate's outburst, I promise it won't happen again." Cloud and Irvine looked at each other. Why was a Colonel apologizing to them? Was there something they didn't know about Black Ops. agents?

"What…?" Cloud was about to ask.

"Introduce yourselves men." Tidus interrupted.

"Edward Elric. Major of the Zanarkand Army." The older boy saluted.

"Alphonse Elric. Major of the Zanarkand Army." The younger boy saluted.

"At your service!" The two shouted in unison. Both Cloud and Irvine were taken aback. They weren't used to such military protocol. Both of them saluted anyways. They were surprised. Both of these boys were Majors, a rank that outranked them by a good few levels. How did these boys get such a prestigious rank. Tidus seemed to be reading their faces because he replied,

"These two boys are National Alchemists. Alchemy is the science and art of manipulating objects by breaking them down into their basic components in order to rearrange them in shape and composition. By gaining a National Alchemist license, one is automatically enlisted into the army at the rank of Major." Tidus put his hands on the two boy's shoulders. "These are some of the most talented alchemists in the world, so don't judge them by appearance." Cloud had no idea what alchemy was but Irvine had some questions.

"How can one be more talented than another at alchemy? Isn't a bookworm's science? I mean, it consists of transmutation circles and elemental materials." Edward fumed but Tidus spoke,

"These boys don't need transmutation circles, and anyways, the efficiency of alchemy is how well the circles are drawn and how the elements are used." Irvine seemed satisfied, but Cloud had a question, one that was not related to alchemy.

"So if these boys are Majors and you are a Colonel, who runs the army branch of the Zanarkand military?" Tidus smiled.

"I see being in Black Ops. keeps you someone separated from the rest of the military. Well, the highest official position in the army is the General President. This position is only held by one man. His name is Zane Calak. He gives all his commands from HQ and has only been seen on the battlefield once, though when he was seen he was covered in cloth robes, so no one really knows what he looks like. In reality, the men that the army truly reports to are the Three fangs. Unfortunately, one of them is dead and the other left the army. The living one's name is Vincent Valentine. He is considered the strongest active person in the military and fights with a triple barreled pistol."

"Who are the other two?" Cloud was inquisitive and wanted to fill in his pocked information about the ZHCM.

"The dead one is Squall's brother, Seifer." Cloud's expression dropped as Tidus said this, "The other one, I believe you met, is named Auron." Irvine's eyes lit up.

"You mean the Auron who fought Kuja and came back from his mission, all of his companions dead, and then immediately left the military?" Tidus nodded his head. Cloud remembered Auron. His eyes were so sad. He doubted he would ever be able to forget them. Then Cloud asked another question.

"What rank does Sephiroth officially hold?" Tidus stroked his chin.

"I'm not exactly sure. The EMC is more mysterious than the Black Ops. I'm pretty sure that his technical rank is Major General." Irvine stepped back in surprise.

"You mean that someone who was only recruited a year ago is already a Major General?"

"I'm pretty sure." Cloud was surprised, but his face didn't show it. All his questions were leading up to this one.

"What does Kuja have to do with the Zanarkand Military. Sephiroth told me he owns half of the military. What did he mean?" Tidus paused. He pondered, as if he was deciding whether to tell Cloud or not. He finally made up his mind.

"Kuja appeared 50 years ago at the gates of the ZHCM HQ. He butchered the guards and all who got in his way. Once he made it to the top tower where Lord Zane stays, they say he demanded control over whatever he chose in the army. I don't know what happened, but Lord Zane came to a compromise that Kuja could have five hundred men from whatever branches he chose. The higher generals protested that that madman should have no part in the army, but Zane would not budge. Later for reasons unknown, Kuja came back 5 years later and demanded 50 of all military funds, and again Zane worked it down to 20. For the next 45 years up till now, Kuja has appeared to random soldiers, bothering them and badgering them, even sometimes killing them. Nobody has any idea what he's up to, but Lord Zane has refused to allow anyone to pursue Kuja. That is all I know." Tidus looked straight at Cloud. "You cannot go after Kuja, it is not allowed."

"Hey!" Alphonse cried out from a hill far up ahead, "Look! We're here!" The following men ran up to Alphonse and Irvine and Cloud were truly impressed. There was a massive tower that led up into the clouds. At its base was a horde of houses, people, and machines, all going about their business. Edward looked at Cloud and Irvine and said,

"Welcome to Bervenia."


	16. Mischievous Children

The way into the skyport was one of 7 giant elevators. There were two glass segments in each elevator shaft, so you could see how high you rose. Cloud and Irvine were amazed, looking out and gasping with amazement.

"Children," Edward crossed his arms across his chest. Alphonse shook his head.

"I don't know brother, the first time you came up into a skyport you were bouncing around the walls like a 4 year old kid." Edward tried to punch at Alphonse, but Tidus grabbed his coat hood. Cloud looked out the window and saw a black flying craft which zoomed above them.

"What was that?" Cloud pointed at the aircraft.

"You serious?" Irvine scratched his head, "That's a Class-5 368 Spyro Jet. How could you not know that?" Cloud just kept staring out the window.

"I don't think I'm from around here…" Irvine just shrugged.

"Hey, grab onto a side bar, we're entering the docking bay." Tidus announced. Everyone grabbed on except for Edward, who just had his arms crossed. As the elevator pod connected with the docking port, the pod shook violently, sending Irvine to his butt. As the 5 men piled out of the elevator, Edward clapped, hit the ground, and then poked Irvine in the head on his way out.

"Colonel told you to hold on." Irvine just rubbed the back of his head.

"How'd he do that?" Irvine asked Alphonse.

"Alchemy. Notice the clapping?" Irvine nodded his head. "Yeah, well that's how brother and I make transmutation circles. He just melted the metal around his boots and hardened it. Then he fixed the floor on the way out." Alphonse smiled, "I think he's trying to show you guys up." Cloud walked up and extended his arm to Irvine. Irvine took it and pulled himself up.

"You just got 'told'." Cloud grinned. Irvine brushed Cloud away and followed after Tidus. After everyone was off the elevator, Tidus stopped in the middle of the room. It was a gigantic, steel reinforced, glass walled dome with constant cargo, people, and soldiers going in and out by elevator and aircraft. Cloud thought it was like a city in the sky.

"Notice all the people. Those are the Al Bhed. They live in these skyports. The military gives them protection of commerce and goods in exchange for living space." Tidus motioned to the giant dome.

"How does it stay up? One tower isn't going to keep a gigantic city like this up," Cloud asked.

"Propellers are placed around the bottom and sides to keep it up, balanced, and so it doesn't topple with the wind. Everyone knows that." Cloud just shrugged. Tidus had one more thing to say.

"I have official business here so I will leave you with Ed and Al." Tidus put his hands on their heads and ruffled their hair. "Your dorms are in the west wing, block C, section 34, rooms 45 and 46." Tidus saluted the brothers and the brothers saluted back, then he departed. The Elrics waited for Tidus to leave. Once he did, the two got mischievous looks on their faces.

"Yeah, so we're gonna go now. We have things to do." Edward scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Cloud.

"But Tidus told you to stay with us," Irvine said.

"Don't worry, brother knows this place like the back of his hand. Just use that map to get yourself to the dorms. We'll be back before the Colonel, so don't worry." The two boys dashed off in the opposite direction Tidus had gone. Cloud and Tidus just stood, looking around, for awhile, then they both looked at the "map" in Cloud's hand.

"It looks like…a dog," Cloud remarked. Irvine shook his head.

"No, no, it's clearly a seagull." Irvine pointed to the scribbles. "See? That's the beak and those are the feet."

"No. That is the tail and those are the ears."

"What are you, blind? Those are clearly feet."

"I still think it's a dog." Cloud and Irvine continued to fight over the identity of the scribbles for awhile, until Cloud ended up at the conclusion that it was a crocodile with a briefcase and Irvine thought it was a rhinoceros with two heads.

"Actually, that says go left until you see a black statue of a man, then go right until you see the sign with the big red circle. You can find your way from there." A young woman wearing goggles and a suit which covered her head, arms, and legs who had just walked up and pointed at the scribbles. "That thing in the middle is a map in case you get lost, but it isn't very well done." The woman looked up at the two men. "You are new around here, aren't you?" The two men reluctantly shook their heads.

"Yeah, we haven't actually gone anywhere, but we're already lost." Irvine adjusted his hat.

"Oh, that's alright. Where do you need to go?"

"West wing, block C, section 34, rooms 45 and 46," Cloud interjected.

"Oh! That's where all the military guys go. You must be with the military then." The two Black Ops. just nodded their heads. "Alright then, follow me." The woman started off and the two men followed. By the pitch of her voice and style of accentuation, Cloud assumed the woman to be no younger than 18 but no older than 24. She was probably 22.

"Is this the right way?" Cloud asked. The woman just waved her hand.

"You'll just have to trust me. You guys got totally tricked. Those directions were written in Al Bhed. Who gave them to you?" Cloud and Irvine shuffled a bit, not wanting to show that they were tricked by a couple of kids. "Oh alright, I see. It's too embarrassing to tell, isn't it?" Both Cloud and Irvine averted their gaze. She was right on the money. "Alright, we're here. Bye, Cloud, I'll be going now." She stood on her toes and gave Cloud a kiss on the cheek. "Nice to see you too Irvine." The woman dashed off, a strand of blond hair poking out of the suit, and left Irvine standing there waving stupidly.

"Who was that?" Irvine asked Cloud. Cloud just put his hand over his face and shook his head.

"Stupid Rikku…"


	17. The Dream

Cloud squirmed in his bed while Irvine lay comfortably asleep. While Irvine was sleeping in the sweet bliss of his nonsensical dreams, Cloud was no so peaceful.

_There were two doors, one black and one white. Cloud walked up and opened the white one. It was empty. He then walked over and opened the black one. It was empty. Cloud looked around. He was surrounded in inky blackness with just these two doors, yet both were empty. What was the purpose of this? Cloud walked away from the two doors, into the darkness. It was all consuming. He couldn't resist its pull. Slowly, as if the door had been there the whole time, a grey door loomed out of the darkness. Cloud walked up to it. A powerful presence loomed beyond the door, though Cloud could not discern whether good or bad. His hand slowly went for the doorknob. He gripped the doorknob, but couldn't bring himself to open the door. Something about it felt cruel, and…familiar. His body froze up as if he had been hit by a wave of icy wind. Cloud resisted the wind and slowly turned the doorknob. It stopped turning and the door came loose. All he had to do know was pull the door open, but his body made it feel like the door weighed 500 pounds. Cloud gave the door one good pull and it swung wide open. There was nothing. _

_Wait! There was something, looming in the deep darkness. It came closer and closer, but it might have been cloud getting closer to the thing. The shadowy blackness whirled around him. Cloud blinked, and the thing was in front of him. It was…hair, silver hair. Cloud's eyes widened. Sephiroth? No, Kuja! The head slowly turned around. Cloud saw that one eye. That eye he saw in his memory. It was both Kuja and Sephiroth's eye, yet it was neither. It was something worse. Then, in the blink of an eye, the head turned into that of a woman. Her hair was brown and fell down her back. She wore a pink bow and her greenish-blue eyes sparkled. Her smile was like a ray of light. Cloud went into some kind of trance. She was captivating. Cloud reached out to touch her, and she lifted her hand to touch his. Their fingers touched. A surge of emotion surged through Cloud. A powerful wind blew through his hair and hers. They both stood motionless. Their thoughts merged into one._

_Why did you leave?_

_I never left._

_Where did you go?_

_I never went._

_Then where are you?_

_I'm right here._

_Why? Why can't I see you?_

_You can see me. Right here, right now._

_Why only know?_

_The woman looked away from Cloud's eyes. Cloud looked back at her imploringly, waiting for an answer. It never came. Cloud saw the woman's eyes open wide. She fell to her knees. Cloud tried to help her up when he noticed a long, steel sword protruding through her stomach. The woman looked up at Cloud. Her eyes were still full of kindness. Cloud tried to speak but no sound came out. The woman's head lolled to the side. She was dead. Tears streamed down Cloud's face. He looked up with anger. It was the silver haired man with the evil eyes. He looked like Sephiroth and like Kuja. Cloud didn't care. The man was evil. Cloud raised his hand, tears streaming down his face. He suddenly felt a weight in his hand, and then it disappeared. Cloud looked up. In his hand was the sword that the man named Zack was wielding in one of his memories. It felt right in his hand. He dashed forward and swung at the demonic man in front of him. The man just smirked. He turned and dashed away into the darkness. Cloud's sword hit the nothingness. Cloud fell to his knees, sword falling out of hand. He reached over to the dead woman and cradled her in his arms. He wept. He wished he could remember her name._

Cloud sat up straight in bed. It was about an hour before the sun would rise, so Irvine was still asleep. Cloud looked around the room. Everything was normal. Everything was fine. Cloud stared long and hard at the door, though. It didn't open, so Cloud was satisfied. He laid his head back down to rest, but he couldn't get to sleep. His dream scared him. That man, the fusion between Sephiroth and Kuja had been popping into his dreams of late, but that woman was a new addition. She felt so familiar, but Cloud couldn't even remember her name. Cloud closed his eyes. He laid there peacefully for about a half an hour when there was a knock at the door. Cloud rubbed his eyes. He had almost gotten back to sleep. Cloud walked up to the door and hit the button. The door slid open. Cloud's eyes opened wide. Standing there, at the door, was Sephiroth. His eyes were filled with fury.

"Hello Cloud. Ready to die?"


	18. Who Am I?

Sweat ran down Cloud's brow. In front of him was the man of his nightmares. His long silver hair flowed down his shoulders. There was one thing. His eyes were still green. Sephiroth did not have his sword drawn, but his hands were balled up into fists.

"Sephiroth, what are you doing here?" Cloud spoke with composure, but his face did not reflect that.

"I came here to kill you Cloud." Sephiroth's eyes were calm, but behind them burned a powerful fire. "I need the power." Sephiroth stepped forward. "You will grant me that power you stole." Cloud stepped backwards, slowly moving under the powerful presence of Sephiroth.

"What are you talking about?" Cloud slowly stepped backwards as Sephiroth advanced. He grabbed his wrapped sword lying on the desk next to his bed. With calm hands Cloud began unraveling the wrapping that he kept his sword in. Sephiroth clutched his forehead.

"You're so naïve Cloud. Are you honestly telling me you remember nothing? Surely the rest of your memories have resurfaced by now?" Cloud just shook his head. Sephiroth grinned. "Foolish Cloud, you have forgotten all about your friends, all about your quest, and all about the real me!" Sephiroth's eyes flashed and Cloud fell to the ground, clutching his head. Memories flushed into his head. He could not be sure they were all his memories, for in some of them, he saw his own face. In fact, none of them were his. They were Sephiroth's. He saw everything; the death, the pain, and the anguish of those dead by Sephiroth's blade. He felt like he was Sephiroth. Evil thoughts filled his head. He saw himself killing everyone in his hometown. He saw himself attacking Zack. He saw himself piercing himself with the 6 foot blade Masamune. Worst of all, he saw himself stabbing the girl with the brown hair. The thing Cloud hated the most is that when he stabbed her, he enjoyed it. He was becoming Sephiroth.

"GRAAAAAAAH!" Cloud roared in anguish. The room shook, no, the entire station seemed to shake. Cloud felt a consciousness prod at his own. It felt foreign, yet similar. He found himself in his own mindscape. There was the chaos of swirling memories around him, but he and a mirror image of himself stood there, calmly. They walked towards each other, two consciousnesses touched; they swirled and became one like with Cloud and the woman in his dream.

_Who are you?_

_I am Cloud, why are you invading my mind?_

_What do you mean? This is my mind._

_I am Cloud, master of my own illusionary world._

_What?_

_You are an illusion of my mind. This is my world._

_No! I am Cloud, go away._

_Foolish puppet. I cannot go away. I am you. To separate us would be like separating the sky from the earth. Without both, the world cannot be complete. You are only part of the whole._

_No, you aren't me. You have nothing to do with me!_

_How can you say that?_

_What do you mean?_

_Look at me. I am you._

_No._

_You deny it._

_Yes._

_Why?_

_Your eyes._

_My eyes?_

_Your eyes! They aren't me. They are Kuja's; they are Sephiroth's; they are not Cloud's._

_You know this, how?_

_What do you mean?_

_You have no memories, so how can you determine anything. You are just a puppet. You are the thing you hate so much. _Cloud laughed. Cloud had confusion on his face. _If you deny me, you deny yourself._

_Then I deny myself._

_What?_

_I deny myself. I am not what you say I am. Even if what you say is true, I can choose my own path._

_No one can truly change._

_Maybe, but I can sure as hell try. _Cloud punched Cloud in the face. Cloud went reeling backwards. Cloud snarled in angerand lunged at Cloud. Cloud battled with Cloud. There was no difference in strength. Then another presence joined. Sephiroth.

_Hello Cloud. Hello Cloud._

_What do you want?_

_I've come to take you back._

_No!_ Sephiroth lunged at Cloud and shot his hand through Cloud's chest. The illusion shattered. Cloud determined who he was. There weren't two Clouds. There was just one, and an imposter. Cloud's consciousness swirled back into reality. He felt Sephiroth's hand on his forehead. Something was being drained out of him. It felt…good. Sephiroth's eyes lit up. They swirled and changed. There was a flash of light. Cloud dropped his sword. He looked up at Sephiroth. Sephiroth just gazed down at him.

"I have back what is mine," said Sephiroth. He turned, but before he walked away, he spoke to Cloud. "I just took a piece of my own being out of you. With it, you, the Cloud of the present shall die, and the Cloud of the past shall be reborn, powers and memories. No longer will my memories haunt you." Cloud was slumped on the ground, his eyes as blank as fresh slate. His brain seemed to have stopped. Sephiroth just gave a soft harrumph and walked away. The atmosphere around Cloud reverted back to normal. Irvine still lay fast asleep in his bed. No one else had noticed. The chaos had all been in Cloud's mind. His mind was now a black consciousness. He knew he existed, but nothing else seemed to have effect on him. Time had no meaning. For all he knew, eons had passed. Slowly though, Cloud noticed a patch of white in his mind. Its light cut through the inky blackness. He wandered over to it. A hand reached out, but he could not take it. A sweet voice rang through his being.

"Welcome home, Cloud."


	19. The Dawn of a New Day

_Cloud looked at the woman in front of him. Her pink bow and long brown hair always calmed his soul. When he was with her, time stopped._

"_Hello Aeris." Aeris just giggled._

"_Hi Cloud, long time no see." Cloud's eyes filled with sadness. Thinking about it now, all the time he spent without knowing if Aeris was still alive seemed horrible. It was all ok now, she was still alive._

"_Now we're finally together again, nothing can break us apart." Cloud smiled but Aeris frowned._

"_Cloud," Aeris said sorrowfully, "I can't stay with you. I'm dead." Cloud's face was filled with pain and confusion. "This is your soul. I came back for a short time to help you recover. It was painful watching the old you being swallowed up by that fragment of Sephiroth."_

"_Why can't I go with you?" Cloud put his hand on Aeris's cheek and Aeris put her hand on his._

"_You still have a life to live. My time was up when Sephiroth killed me." Cloud frowned. He remembered. Sephiroth killed Aeris, but why did Kuja say that he killed Cloud's friends?_

"_So if Sephiroth killed you, Kuja killed everyone else?"_

"_In a sense, yes. In that same sense Kuja killed me." Cloud was confused._

"_How?"_

"_Kuja and Sephiroth are two parts of the same being. When you fought Sephiroth and fell through the portal, he didn't die, of course. He divided."_

"_But Sephiroth exists in this world. How can Sephiroth split and there still be Sephiroth?" Aeris sighed._

"_It's a lot to explain, but you need to know, because that is the blind spot in your memories." Aeris waved her hand and a wooden bench appeared. "Sit down." Aeris sat down and Cloud followed her lead. "The Sephiroth that you met when you first arrived in the new world, Spira, was the Sephiroth you knew when you were part of the army. That's why he seemed somewhat pleasant. The Sephiroth you just met is the Sephiroth you knew when he first went insane." Cloud remembered that. Sephiroth believed he was born of the ancient peoples who first inhabited Midgar, so he delved himself into research, only to be corrupted by Jenova, a parasitic being which fed off of planets. This led to Sephiroth going insane and trying to become a demigod by absorbing the planet's energy._

"_Wait," Cloud interrupted, "So I'm not in Midgar anymore?" Aeris just giggled._

"_Of course not. After traveling all over Spira, you couldn't figure that out for yourself?" Cloud just stared at the ground. That was kind of stupid of him. He looked up at Aeris._

"_So who exactly is Kuja?" Cloud looked imploringly at Aeris. Aeris sighed._

"_Kuja is the part of Sephiroth that was corrupted by Jenova. He is the manifestation of all of Sephiroth's insanities and evils. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that Sephiroth is a good soul when you take out the Jenova corrupted part." Aeris scratched her cheek. "Jenova was only able take over Sephiroth because he had that darkness inside of him. That is the same reason why when Sephiroth split, a piece of him landed in you. The reason Kuja and Sephiroth were both after you was to take away that piece of themselves and gain power. The catch was that you needed to awaken your memories first. Kuja didn't know how to do that, somehow, Sephiroth did. It's probably because Sephiroth's was a familiar face. The darkness of your past still haunts you, Cloud. You will never be able to confront Kuja and Sephiroth and win until you let it go. You have to defeat them before one of them absorbs the other and forms their most powerful form."_

"_But how can I go on? Now that I have my memories, it makes it all the much worse to live. I can remember you dying. I can remember the pain I put my friends and comrades through. Sometimes it feels like the cause of all of this is me." Cloud put his head in his hands. "I just don't know what to do." Aeris put her hand on Cloud's shoulder._

"_You have the strength inside of you, you just need to blot out that last bit of darkness and conquer your past. I believe in you." Cloud looked up, put his arms around Aeris, and kissed her._

_Thank you, Aeris._

The world around Cloud swirled and flickered. The sky tore away and light poured through. He felt feeling come back to him. He felt whole once again. He opened his eyes and sat up. The first thing he saw was a face he had not seen in a long time, along with a face he had seen just a few months ago.

"Hello Vincent, hello Squall." The two just grinned and shrugged. Vincent was one of Cloud's old comrades who had helped him fight Sephiroth. He had his own issues with Sephiroth, but the thing that surprised Cloud was the fact that he was in Spira. "How…?" Vincent just held up his gloved hand. With his red cloak, clawed gauntlet, and long black hair, the air around him just emanated the fact that this guy was a force to be reckoned with.

"I came here to lead you to someone. Someone who can help you clear the darkness."

"Are we leaving now?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, get out of bed and let's go." Vincent through some clothes at Cloud. They were his old clothes. They were comprised of a leather shoulder guard with a long cloth sleeve; a high collared, sleeveless sweater-shirt; his old cargo pants, and a cloth waist cover. Cloud like the last item because he thought it made him look like a warrior. Vincent always thought it was extravagant, but he had brought it anyways. "Put on your clothes…warrior." Cloud grinned and tried to get out of bed, but a blond haired girl came jumping out of nowhere and tackled Cloud.

"No, you have to stay in bed and get better!" Rikku was distraught. Apparently, Cloud had later learned that he had been unconscious for 2 weeks. Irvine had brought him in and left on his next mission.

"Cloud may be messed up, but I still have a job to do." He had said as he tipped his hat and walked out the door. Cloud looked down at Rikku. With his memories back and Aeris back in his mind, the love he used to have for Rikku had just transformed into that of a older brother. He no longer could look at her romantically. Rikku must have seen this and stepped off of Cloud. Cloud stood up and patted Rikku on the head. Now that he knew he was 30, and she was 18, it just didn't seem like it would work. He had a dark past, and she had her whole life ahead of her. Cloud would not let her get sucked up in this conflict.

"Goodbye," Cloud kissed Rikku on the forehead. He threw on his outer garments and walked out the door. Rikku collapsed, crying on the floor. Even later, after everything had been to explained to her, Rikku just couldn't cope with the fact that the Cloud she knew was gone. Vincent walked out the door after Cloud, finally followed by Squall.

Once the three men had gotten out of the village, Cloud stopped walking. The other two men followed suit. Cloud turned around and looked at Squall. He just noticed his arm was back.

"Squall, your arm!" Squall smirked.

"I got in contact with those Elric brats. Apparently the older one had two mechanical limbs and he knew just the person who could get me one." Squall moved his fingers around and flexed his arm. "It works just fine, but it still isn't synched enough with my body to work at optimum efficiency."

"So are you coming with us?" Cloud asked.

"No, I have to get back to being a Black Ops. Unlike you freeloader, I have a job to do." Squall grasped Cloud's shoulder. "You're going to have to go one more without me." Cloud smiled. Squall was back to normal, maybe even a little better. He grasped Squall's shoulder.

"This isn't the end of the line friend. After I get back, we're partnering back up again."

"I'm going to hold you to it."

"I never break my promises." The two men let go of each other. As Cloud walked away, he waved. Squall waved back. This truly was the start of something new.

"You ready?" asked Vincent.

"Never better," Cloud replied. The sunlight shined down upon them and the wind was behind their backs. Cloud was back and better than ever.


	20. The Mysterious Man

The sandy wind blew Cloud's hair. The sun shone down on the cracked, dry ground. This scene was familiar. This was the same type of scenery when he first had arrived at the Zanarkand Military Academy. Vincent was striding along next to Cloud. They had been hiking through desert dunes and mountains for the past 4 days and Cloud was getting frustrated.

"Do you have any idea where we are going?" Cloud inquired angrily.

"Of course," Vincent just replied, not even turning to face Cloud. Cloud remained indignant. He had no idea where exactly Vincent was going to take him, and it seemed to Cloud that they were just wandering the desert. His face was sand burnt and sun burnt and he hadn't had proper sleep in days. Still, he followed Vincent. After a good day of walking, Vincent found a tall wooden pole. They had stopped off at these poles each night, so Cloud assumed that these were checkpoints. Cloud made a fire out of scattered logs and grasses and Vincent took some dried meat and water out of his pack. He handed half of the meat and a canteen of water to Cloud, which Cloud took graciously. Neither one talked at all. After an hour or two of staring into the fire, Cloud wrapped himself in a blanket and was about to go to sleep when Vincent said,

"We arrive tomorrow." Cloud didn't respond, but he was glad. This desert scenery was beginning to tire him out. Cloud drifted off to sleep. He couldn't wait for tomorrow. According to Vincent he was going to get some training. Enough training to allow him to beat Sephiroth. The thing is, the way Vincent talked about it, it wasn't going to be conventional training.

The sun shone on Cloud's face. He stirred from his sleep and sat up. The fire was out and Vincent was gone. Now that it was day, Cloud noticed he was in some sort of grotto. The shrubs and grasses were much more abundant here, but that really wasn't saying much. Cloud strode about the campsite. It looked too manmade to be normal. Someone was expecting them. Vincent wasn't going to be training him. Cloud wandered around the surrounding area. The cacti and grasses gave the area a very dirty look, but of course it was natural. Cloud heard a noise behind him. It was Vincent rummaging through some large bushes. He passed through a tiny break in the bushes. Cloud waited, and then followed. After he passed through the shrubs, a large, previously unnoticed cliff's edge was revealed. Leading down from the cliff was a tiny, winding path that led to an area Cloud couldn't see, but he headed down it anyways. The path wound about the cliff into a series of twists and turns that would have never been visible unless you came down this specific path. After about 30 minutes of walking, Cloud reached a hidden cliff. It jutted out of the side of a canyon, yet it had a terrific view of everything. As Cloud came further and further into the cliff he noticed a miniature tower and a cloaked figure. Standing aside the two was the familiar red caped figure of Vincent. Cloud walked closer and Vincent turned his head.

"He's here," said Vincent to the cloaked figure. The cloaked figure just motioned its hand for Cloud to come closer, which he did. Cloud saw that the miniature tower was actually his old buster sword. Cloud dropped the sword that Wakka had given him and grasped the handle of his old blade. Its familiar grip sent a surge of nostalgia coursing through Cloud's body.

"I wouldn't abandon your sword 'Brotherhood' just yet. I don't think Tidus would like you casting his favorite sword aside." The voice came from the cloaked figure. It was definitely a man. The voice was very familiar. The man stood up. Facing away from Cloud, he grabbed the hilt of the buster sword and wrenched it out of the ground and from Cloud's grip. With one flourishing movement, the man, taking the blade straight out of the ground, slashed at Cloud and flipped backwards, brandishing the sword at Cloud. Cloud slid out of the way and grabbed Brotherhood by the handle. The cloaked man didn't move. He just held out the sword towards Cloud.

"Who are you?" Cloud inquired.

"You forget me that easily? I thought I was your friend." The man said in a somewhat friendly tone. Cloud didn't let down his guard though. Vincent just stood by and watched.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked again. The hooded figure laughed. He pulled back his hood and turned to look at Cloud. This revealed a dark gray haired head. Cloud was stunned. This face. This man. He should not be here. He is supposed to be dead.

_Zack...Zack…It's so dark, where are you Zack? The rain poured down hard. Cloud crawled over the bodies. Where is Zack? I can't see him, it's just these bodies. Cloud's eyes widened. Zack? Cloud crawled over to Zack. He was lying in a pool of blood. His own blood. He still had his hand gripped on his sword.  
"Zack…" Cloud said. Zack grunted, then looked up at Cloud.  
"My part till now…" He said. Cloud paused.  
"Your part?" he asked.  
"That's right, you are…" Zack wasn't able to finish his sentences.  
"…you are?" Cloud repeated, as if helping Zack speak. Zack lifted his arm up and hugged Cloud to his chest.  
"Live." He said. "You're…the evidence that I lived." Zack slumped back to the ground. Cloud slowly lifted up his head, Zack's life blood on his face. There was a long pause as the two friends looked at each other. "My pride and dreams" Zack said as he lifted up his sword to Cloud, "Take them all." Cloud took the sword and Zack's arm fell back to the ground.  
"I'm the evidence that you lived." Cloud repeated. Zack smiled, then closed his eyes. Cloud sobbed. Tears streamed down Cloud's cheeks.  
"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Cloud yelled in anguish.  
_

"Surprised? I thought you might be." He clapped Cloud on the shoulder. "Did you expect me to die that easily?" Cloud's shocked expression calmed a bit, but he still looked paralyzed. The man frowned. "After all these years, and you still look like you're in a coma. We're still friends aren't we?" That last sentence must have triggered something, because Cloud's face slowly turned back to normal.

"Yes, we're still friends Zack." Cloud sighed. "Would you mind telling me why you aren't dead?" Vincent sniggered at this comment. Zack looked at Vincent, and then back at Cloud.

"Sure, why not? I haven't good conversation in a long while."


	21. Knowledge

This is where part two begins. This is the turning point of this story.

Zack began his story:

"It got really foggy when I 'died'." Zack said. Cloud snickered. "No, I'm serious. A mist drifted in and I seemed to lose all connection to reality. It felt like I was drifting in and out of life. I could view events going on in the past, present, and future. I could see different dimensions. I became the ultimate observer. As far as I know, there are three dimensions…"

"What!?!" Cloud exclaimed, "Three? I thought two was one too many. Besides, are you sure you weren't just hallucinating? Well, you wouldn't be able to hallucinate if you were…" Zack put his hand up to silence Cloud.

"Patience." Zack said calmly, "I will get to everything in time." Cloud closed his mouth and sat attentively. "Thank you. So as I was saying, there are three dimensions. It made me seem extremely lonely. I was existing outside of everything. It was as if I was nothing. I wasn't dead, I could tell, because I was in neither heaven nor hell. I was in some state of limbo. I had no idea why at the time, but I knew I had some purpose. It wasn't my time to die. So for the time being, I was doomed to wander the planes between worlds. My main interest was you of course. I tried as often as I could to communicate with you through your dreams, but all it did was give you horrible flashbacks, so I only tried every once in a while. It was always the same. It pained me to see you like that. I watched you during your journey. I was happy to see you recover, albeit slowly, from the horrors at Nibelheim. Your battles with Sephiroth tore me apart. Both of you were my friends…"

"Wait!" Cloud interrupted. "Sephiroth was evil by then! That was the evil Sephiroth. The corrupted Sephiroth."

"I see you talked with Aeris." Zack said plainly.

"What?" Cloud wondered out loud.

"I was the one who told Aeris that. She is currently in the same state I was. She didn't pass on to heaven, so I met her in the interdimension. We came to the conclusion that we both still had missions to do, and they both involved you. I was resurrected before her, but I don't think she will be resurrected. I came to the conclusion that she is meant to act as your guardian angel, and won't pass on until this battle is over. I, on the other hand, was forcefully removed from the interdimension."

"Wait, so you're not…" Cloud didn't need to finish his sentence.

"Not at all. I might have dated Aeris before, but considering I 'died' I can see how she might fall in love with someone else. Besides, we were just dating. It wasn't a super serious thing." Zack grinned, he had moved on, but Cloud knew he was lying, but Cloud smiled back. Always full of smiles Zack was.

"So what about you being removed?" Cloud was full of questions. It was not Zack, but Vincent who then spoke up.

"Quiet, fool!" Cloud was taken aback. Vincent continued, "Listen, then maybe you won't have so many questions." Zack turned his head towards Vincent and made a slight gesture with his hand.

"Now now, Vincent, no need to be so harsh. I can imagine how Cloud could be confused. Not everyone has such a malleable mind as you Vincent. Vincent grunted and folded his arms over his chest, sitting down on a rock. "Now, please Cloud, don't interrupt. It just makes it more confusing." Zack stretched his legs out and then continued with the story. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, the battle. You know what? I'll explain the Sephiroth situation to you." Zack ran his hand through his hair, "boy is it confusing. It still boggles my mind. I only know this because I could see it all from an objective perspective while I was dead. I'll lay it out for you," Zack drew three circles in the dirt using his finger. Then he drew a box in between them. He pointed to the first globe and drew a long haired man inside of it. "This is Midgar. The man is Sephiroth." He then pointed to the second globe and drew another man. "This is Spira. The man in this globe is Kuja."

"Then what about the third globe?" Cloud asked. Zack held up his hand, signifying silence.

"This final globe is the third world. I do not know what it is called, or what it contains, because my soul was linked to yours. I could only visit the dimensions you were in. There is only one thing I know, and even that might not be true. I believe that there is a third part of Sephiroth in this world." Cloud was about to say something, but then decided better of it. Zack continued. "Kuja is not a corrupted piece of Sephiroth. The two are pieces of one being, the fallen angel." Zack paused, and Cloud could not contain himself.

"So Aeris lied to me?" Cloud look horrified. Zack remained calm.

"No, no on purpose anyways. To understand it, you must know that when I was resurrected, I was pulled away from Aeris for a time before I was resurrected. This is when I saw the things that changed everything. I had told Aeris my theories before that, so she told you what she thought was true, and even then, in a way it still is. Don't worry, she's looking out for you. She did help you regain your memories after all." As Zack finished speaking, Cloud's face lightened. Zack continued. "As I was felt my soul being tugged back to the living after that seemingly eternity of nonexistence, I saw three cords of energy. Two were headed straight for Spira, and the third for a place that I had never been able to see before. This is the third world. I looked towards Midgar and saw there was no energy leading there. It was because of what I was able to glimpse at the end of the third cord that led me to my current conclusion. I saw a third silver haired man. He wielded a silver blade and had a silver crystal embedded in his hand. I was too far revived to see what was on the end of the two other cords, for a new mist had started to form, but I suspect that it was Kuja and Sephiroth, for they are currently in the same world." Zack then went silent again.

"Wow…" was all Cloud could say, "Your saying that Sephiroth, Kuja, and this third man are all three parts of a fallen angel?" Zack nodded his head. Cloud slumped back against his rock.

"They all have such similarities, it's hard to ignore," Vincent spoke up.

"Yeah, but if they were separated, why are they coming back together? Well, at least Kuja and Sephiroth are. Also, where do I fit into the picture, and what resurrected you?" The questions flowed from Cloud like a torrential rain. Vincent answered Cloud's first question.

"I can answer that. While I don't know how or why they were separated, I can tell you why they are reuniting. It is Kuja's doing. He opened the portal that sucked up you and Sephiroth into Spira. He was trying to reunite the pieces of the fallen angel. Apparently he thinks that if he is in control of the fusion, his consciousness will keep." Zack interrupted.

"It's either that or he simply wants his true form to be restored, whether he keeps his consciousness or not. The thing he didn't count on was Jenova. Jenova's cells and Hojo's experiments caused you and Sephiroth to share a dangerously close bond, which caused a fragment of his domineering consciousness to bleed over into you. I was only unaffected because I died too early. Kuja needed that piece of Sephiroth back, and it didn't matter who obtained it, because he was planning on fusing with Sephiroth anyways."

"Why is it Kuja that is doing this and not Sephiroth?" Cloud asked.

"Well if my theory holds correct, it's because Sephiroth reincarnated himself as a child in order to not be able to be refused." Zack stopped talking. Cloud wondered the reason for the silence. Then he remembered.

"Lucrecia…" Vincent muttered. Vincent's long lost love, tricked into giving birth to Sephiroth, and then killed herself for it.

"Exactly," replied Zack, "Originally, none of the pieces, for that is what I will call them now, wanted to be refused together. Kuja though, changed his mind for some reason. The barrier originally set up to divide the three worlds had weakened at the spot sealing off because of the mako plants at Midgar city. This allowed Kuja to warp Sephiroth into Spira, and you were taken with him because your proximity to Sephiroth and the part of Sephiroth that was inside you. Kuja will try to fight Sephiroth and subdue him, then he will absorb him and become 2/3 complete. I don't know why I was brought back, but I believe it was to fight alongside you. There is a higher cosmic power working here, and we need to stop it. We must halt the reformation of the fallen angel." Zack stared ahead, determined. Cloud could feel his passion. Zack had seen much and it had enflamed him.

"Alright," Cloud responded, "how do you propose we do that?

"We find the final piece," Vincent replied. "We must go to the new world, find that piece of the angel, and destroy him."

"Why not defeat Kuja?" Cloud inquired.

"I can't be done," Zack replied, "at this point, not even Sephiroth can stand up to Kuja's power."

"But how are we going to get there?" Cloud asked.

"Like this," Vincent pulled out a sphere. It was perfectly round, small, and green with purple cracks. It had an eerie glow to it. "This is a warp materia. It is a materia Kuja imbued with his own power to allow him to break the dimensional barriers. He can use it to either warp within a dimension or to another one. He can't, however, warp to the new dimension because he can only use it to go places he has glimpsed. He has never seen the new dimension or an image of anything inside of it. The way he brought you and Sephiroth through the portal was simply by breaking the barrier and having you fall through it, because he knows what Sephiroth looks like."

"So why can't he pull the third piece through the final barrier?" said Cloud.

"I don't think he knows it exists. The final piece of the angel is smart. He has sealed himself away very well," said Zack, "He doesn't want anybody coming through."

"Or maybe he does want us to come through," interrupted Vincent, "I think he allowed Zack a glimpse of his dimension so we could come through."

"So we can kill him?" asked Cloud.

"No," replied Zack, "but I'm assuming that's what it is going to come down to." Right as Zack had finished speaking, there was an incredibly loud explosion. It came from far in the distance. Cloud looked to the source, and he saw a giant cloud of fire on the horizon.

"That's our cue," said Vincent nonchalantly. He stood up. Zack did too.

"Let's go," he said. Vincent tossed the materia to Zack. Zack pushed the materia into his arm, and it effortlessly melded with him. Cloud stood up, but with much more urgency that his comrades.

"What the hell was that?" he exclaimed.

"Kuja has begun his assault on the world of Spira. It won't be long before he finds Sephiroth and reabsorbs him. We have to use the materia while he is focused on his hunt so he doesn't sense the special disturbance."

"But what about everyone here?" Cloud's face grew dark.

"If we stay here, everyone will die. If we go, there is a chance to save them." Zack looked Cloud straight in the eyes, "But I'm not promising anything."

Zack grabbed Cloud by the arm and drew him to his side, and then grabbed Cloud's Brotherhood sword and lifted the Buster Sword from the ground. Vincent put his hand on Zack's shoulder. Zack held out his left arm, and the cliff face in front of the three seemed to melt into nothingness. What was left was a shimmering portal of something that Cloud couldn't describe.

"I assume we're jumping through there." Cloud said.

"Yup, so hold on tight," Zack replied, "It's time to party." Zack leaped forward, taking Cloud and Vincent with him. In a flash, the three were gone, and the portal had closed up behind him. As far as Spira cared, Zack, Cloud, and Vincent never existed.


	22. New World

Note: Chapter 20 has been redone. I feel I didn't add enough emotion to the scene where Zack meets Cloud again, because after playing Crisis Core, I felt guilty. I also edited Chapter 21 and extremely tiny bit.

Down in a large cavern, there was a loud crack. Then the crack became multiple cracks. It sounded like gunshots. A large shimmering portal opened up and out came three odd looking men, though there was no one there to witness it. The first came tumbling out and ended up on his knees. He had spiky blond hair and wore black clothes. He had long cargo pants, long black gloves on his hands, a leather shoulder guard on his left shoulder, and a sleeveless vest. The second came strolling out as if simply walking through a door. He had gray spiky hair that grew backwards like a lion's mane. He wore two metal shoulder guards, baggy military style pants, normal sized gloves, and the same vest as the previous. The final man sulked out of the portal like a demon coming from the shadows. He was the strangest of the three. He had long black hair, wore a red bandana, a red cloak, and a golden claw-like gauntlet. After all three had exited the portal, and the first one had stood up, the portal closed up behind them. The place was pitch black.

"So, anybody know where we are?" Zack asked. Vincent gave a flick of his wrist and his hand started glowing. He threw two small spheres to Zack and Cloud, who then merged them with there hands and did the same. There was a materia for everything.

"Looks like a cave," responded Cloud.

"Of course it looks like a cave. It is a cave." Vincent replied. Cloud put on an annoyed face.

"I was just responding to Zack's question," said Cloud. Vincent huffed in mild annoyance. Zack walked up and gave Cloud a pat on the back.

"You wouldn't have responded like that a year ago," he said.

"Things change. One year ago, you were dead." Cloud made a slight grin. Zack smiled.

"Point taken." Zack's face went serious, looked around and then asked, "No really though, where are we?" Cloud and Zack continued to look around while Vincent walked around a corner.

"Over here." Vincent beckoned his comrades over. As Zack and Cloud turned the corner, Cloud's face jaw dropped in disbelief

"It's a dead end!" he said. Zack put a hand over his face and shook his head.

"Wow…we just came from a dead end. Does this mean we're in some sort of air bubble inside of a rock?" Zack knocked on a wall. It sounded like a rock.

"I doubt that's it." Vincent replied, "It's probably a sealed off tunnel." He pointed to the side of the tunnel. "Look, shovel marks." Cloud's face brightened.

"That means if we can break through the wall, we should find a tunnel." He reached for his waist, ready to grab his sword, but it wasn't there. He felt a sharp pain in his head. Cloud turned around and saw his sword on the ground and Zack laughing.

"By the way," said Zack, "here's your sword." Cloud frowned, rubbing the back of his head and picked it up.

"What was that for?" he said.

"For being a nimrod, that's what." Zack let out a few last chuckles and regained his composure, "A cave in can create walls up to 30 feet thick. I don't think a sword is going to be able to bust through that." Cloud just scoffed at Zack.

"Please, you should know me better than that." Cloud took a ready stance. His sword glowed with energy. "HYAH!" He swung his sword at the dead end. A blast of blue energy shot out at the rock. Rock shards went flying everywhere. After the dust had died down, a small man sized tunnel had been revealed, and at the very end, a small trace of light shined in.

"Let's go," Vincent brushed past Cloud, leaving Cloud standing there.

"Not even a thank you?" Cloud asked jokingly, knowing Vincent would never say thank you.

"Thank you," Zack said as he playfully clapped Cloud on the back of the head. He sprinted away and Cloud followed. Once they got to the end of the tunnel, an amazing sight beheld their eyes. It was a giant metal airship, but it didn't look like your typical airship. It actually looked like a ship. All around them were small sheds and scaffolding. There wasn't much time to take in the sights, because they heard a commotion outside. They must have been attracted by the noise made by Cloud's sword beam.

"Get ready to meet the natives," said Vincent. A small crowd was bustling in, and at the front was a young man, no older than 18. He had brown hair, wore a blue jacket, black pants, tall brown boots, and had an eye patch that looked like it was part goggle.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked. Zack walked to the front.

"Well, I'm Zack Fair," he turned to Cloud, "This is my friend Cloud Strife," Cloud played along and waved his hand innocently, "and this is Vincent Valentine." After he was done introducing everyone, Zack put one hand on his hip and gave the young man a jokingly condescending glare, "but isn't it more polite to introduce yourself first?" The young man's face softened. He was oddly inquisitive of this stranger's nonchalant attitude.

"Alright, fine. The name's Vyse. I'm the blue rogue captain of Vyse's pirates, and you just happen to be in our base." He lifted an eyebrow, as if to say, "How are you going to respond to that?" Zack played his part flawlessly. He looked around in mock horror.

"Oh really? Oh, I'm so sorry, I guess we'll be going now then, right Cloud?" Cloud made a totally fake apologetic face.

"Oh yes, we're very sorry. Now let's go." The three men made their way up the stairs, and would have passed the group of pirates, if not for the sheathed sword that was poking Zack in the back as he tried to pass.

"Nice try, but you're not going to get by that easily." Vyse made a smug grin, but Zack was not fazed.

"I'd suggest against violence," said Zack.

"Why is that?" asked Vyse.

"Because I wouldn't want to hurt you." Zack's face remained cheery.

"I'm a nice guy, but I can't just have strange men walking around my base." Vyse shrugged, and then let his sword drop to his side. "Fine, go ahead. I won't stop you." Zack looked back at Cloud and Vincent, of whom Cloud shrugged back at him.

"Then let's go," said Vincent. The three men strode past Vyse, leaving him standing smug. He waited a minute then followed the path of the three strange men. When he got to where they were standing, he asked,

"What's wrong, I'm curious to see what you're looking for." Vyse had no idea that the men had materialized in his base, because he had not bothered to check for a small-sized airship, and had not recently checked his ship for stowaways. Zack, Cloud, and Vincent, however, where totally surprised. They were staring out at limitless and endless sky.

"I didn't expect this," said Zack to Cloud. Vincent sighed.

"We have a long way to go."


	23. Clouds

The wind blew through Cloud's hair as he stared out into the deep blue sky, dotted with fluffy white clouds. It was, for lack of a better word, incredible. He couldn't get over his sense of vertigo. It seemed that no matter what direction he looked, the blond swordsman was always looking up. He wasn't used to being able to look down off of a cliff and see the same thing he saw when he looked up. In fact, if he didn't know any better, he'd say…

"Are we floating?" he asked, turning to Vyse. The Blue Rouge eyed him oddly and walked up next to Cloud.

"Not as far as I know," he said, jumping up and down a few times to demonstrate the grip gravity still had on him. Cloud shook his head.

"No, I mean," he replied, looking out over the cliff and down towards its base, "is the island floating? Are we up in the sky?" Vyse grew more confused.

"Well of course," he said, as if there was absolutely nothing odd about the concept. "It's not like we're in deep sky or anything." Cloud's head began to spin. Deep…sky? That didn't even make any sense. Vincent remained silent, but Zack turned to Vyse.

"So how do we get off? I doubt you expect us to jump," he said to the sky pirate. Vyse gestured back towards the cave in which the airship was parked.

"Umm, the same way you got here? But I'm confused. You fly all the way here just to leave?" said Vyse. Clearly the Blue Rouge was as confused about these newcomers as the three dimension travelers were about their current situation. Well, not quite as confused, but still.

"Well, we were thinking we could just walk, but…" Cloud trailed off. The concept of being on a flying island was still baffling him. He was standing on grass and dirt, but at the same time he was in the sky. "Clearly, that's not an option." Zack nodded his head in agreement. Vincent just shook his head.

"I'm assuming you use that airship to fly from island to island?" he said, his face taciturn. Vyse nodded, but was still confused, not quite sure why he had to explain this. Who were these guys? Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"There are other islands?" asked the blond swordsman inquisitively. Vincent rolled his eyes.

"Of course there are. Listen to the man," he said, walking past the crowd of sky pirates, nodding towards Vyse as he sauntered into the airship hangar. The pirates all muttered as the imposing, red cloaked man made his way through their base. What a suspicious looking man. While Cloud remained staring off into the blue skies, Zack turned to Vyse.

"I'll have to say, this is all a bit…" Zack paused, looking for the right word, "…unexpected." His hand in his pocket, he gave the vast horizon a quick glance before looking back to Vyse. "I've never dreamed of a land in the clouds. I had no idea what to expect." Vyse just continued to give Zack a confused look.

"You're not from around here, are you?" asked the Blue Rouge, slowly catching on to the situation. Zack shook his head.

"You don't know the half of it," he replied. The ex-SOLDIER gestured towards the airship hangar. "How about you give us a tour of that pretty boat of yours and I fill you in?" Vyse nodded.

"I'd appreciate that," he replied.


End file.
